8.157
6.2
6.3
6.2
5.4
7
7.1
7.7
7.419
7.747
7.626
7.1
6.3
5.1
7.4
Artikel: Virginia Christian GudangMovies21 Rebahinxxi
- Source: Virginia Christian
Virginia Christian (August 15, 1895 – August 16, 1912) was a child executed in the United States. Christian, an intellectually disabled black maid, was convicted of the murder of her employer Ida Belote, a 51-year-old white woman, in her home at Hampton on March 18, 1912.
She was the first female executed in the 20th century in the state of Virginia. She was also the only female child executed by electric chair and, to date, the last female executed in the electric chair by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The state did not execute another female prisoner until Teresa Lewis in 2010.
Early life
Virginia Christian was born on August 15, 1895. She was the third child and oldest daughter of Henry Christian and Charlotte Christian.
When Virginia was 13, her mother become paralyzed and unable to work. Her father earned $1.25 per day working as a fisherman and performing odd jobs. To help support her family, Virginia dropped out of the Whittier Training School to work for as a laundress for Ida Belote, earning $4 per week. Before marrying Henry, Charlotte Christian had worked for the Belotes, and Henry had sold them fish.. Belote had a reputation for being difficult and temperamental, and both Henry and Virginia's aunt Harriet Christian discouraged her from taking the job.
The Newport News Times-Herald wrote that "her intelligence is below average". She has also been described as intellectually disabled.
Incident
On March 18, 1912, Ida Belote visited the Christian house and accused Virginia of stealing a skirt. Virginia was told by her mother to visit Belote's house and resolve the dispute. Once she arrived, Belote also accused her of stealing a gold locket. Virginia Christian denied stealing anything and threatened to quit. In response, Belote attacked her with a spittoon. Christian responded by striking Belote's head with a broomstick, then forced a towel five inches down her throat, suffocating her; in her confession, Christian stated she and Belote both raced to grab separate broom handles, and that she put the towel in Belote's mouth to stop her from screaming. Christian fled with Belote's pocketbook, which contained money and a ring.
After the confrontation, Christian returned home to do chores. Two of Belote's children discovered her body, and the police reported seeing a trail of blood and overturned furniture in her house. One hour and 15 minutes after the killing, Virginia was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. In jail, without speaking to an attorney, she confessed to attacking Belote. However, she maintained she acted in self-defense and had not meant to kill her.
Trial and execution
Christian's trial began on April 8, 1912. She was defended by two black lawyers: Joseph Thomas Newsome and George Washington Fields. The jury was entirely white and male. Since first-degree murder carried a mandatory death penalty, the defense attempted to reduce the charges to second-degree murder by arguing the killing was a crime of passion, not premeditated. The defense also emphasized her femininity and youth, introducing records from Christian's school and her family Bible to prove she was a minor; despite this evidence, the prosecution claimed Christian was an adult. The prosecution argued that Christian wanted to rob Belote, and that the attack was the result of premeditated burglary. The prosecution also argued that forcing the towel so far down Belote's throat required an instrument and would have taken minutes, which was sufficient to show premeditation. Christian asked to testify in her own defense, but her lawyers refused; George Washington Fields, who considered her "a coarse-mannered, homely girl and extremely ignorant", worried she might provoke a disturbance or alienate the jury. Later, Joseph Newsome wrote that he regretted preventing her testimony, since letting her demonstrate her ignorance might have prompted a new trial. On April 9, after 23 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of Guilty.
= Petitions for clemency
=
After the trial, multiple groups petitioned William Hodges Mann, the governor of Virginia, for clemency. Christian's lawyer sent a petition explaining that he had refrained from calling her to testify in her defense out of concern that her words might incite a violent courtroom outburst.
Members of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) cooperated in their efforts to commute Virginia Christian's sentence. On July 24, Mary Church Terrell, the president of the NACW, and fellow activist Nellie Griswold Francis met with Governor Mann. Terrell presented a petition signed by 300 members of the NACW and asked him to stop the execution due to Christian's young age. Mann defended the court's decision and argued her age should not be a factor, since most of the nation's criminals were also young. Instead of a pardon, he granted a two week reprieve for NACW to hire private detectives to find new evidence, and allowed Terrell to meet with Christian in jail.
The NAWC wrote a letter to the NAACP about Christian's case on August 1. The NAACP established the Virginia Christian Litigation Fund and raised hundreds of dollars to find routes to a new trial. They also urged their members to write to Governor Mann. On August 5, a representative from the NAACP met with Mann, arguing for a commutation based on Christian's age and the unlikeliness that Belote's death was premeditated. However, Mann stated he believed Christian had premeditated the crime in order to steal Belote's money. Mann also incorrectly claimed Belote was 70 years old rather than 51.
The newspapers The Chicago Defender, The Cleveland Gazette, and The Washington Bee opposed the execution, John Mitchell, editor of the Richmond Planet, called the crime "diabolical", but felt it appropriate to show mercy to Christian since she was a woman.
E. Van Putnam, editor of The Chicago Evening World, and William Walling, a board member of the NAACP who wrote for the Evening World, aggressively campaigned against Christian's execution. The newspaper, which had the largest readership in Chicago, printed the NACW petition in full, called Christian's sentence "an indictment against society", condemned her conviction as racist, and urged readers to write Governor Mann. Putnam also questioned Christian's competency and offered to pay for her to be mentally examined. Mann insisted Christian was competent and sane, highlighting her ability to write letters. He emphasized that the state had offered her an education, and claimed "I have not taken into consideration sex or color". Based on the paper's campaign, political and business leaders across Chicago criticized the sentence, including U.S. Congressman Martin B. Madden.
Mann also received letters from YWCA president Lucy Brooks Lewis and the Colored Young Women’s Christian Association of Baltimore. Virginia's mother Charlotte also unsuccessfully petitioned Governor Mann:
My dear mr governor
Please for give me for Bowing low to write you a few lines: I am the mother of Virginiany Christian. I have been pairalized for mor then three years and I could not and Look after Gennie as I wants too. I know she dun an aweful weaked thing when she kill Miss Belote and I hear that the people at the penetintry wants to kill her but I is praying night and day on my knees to God that he will soften your heart so that She may spend the rest of her days in prison. they say that the whole thing is in yours Hands and I know Governer if you will onely save my child who is little over sixteen years old God will Bless you for ever … If I was able to come to see you I could splain things to you better but I cant do nothing but pray to God and ask him to help you to simpithise with me and my truble
I am your most umble subgeck,
Charlotte Christian.
= Execution and funeral
=
On August 16, the day of Christian's execution, Mann publicly announced he would not commute Christian's sentence and affirmed his belief she was guilty of premeditated murder. Before her execution, Christian wrote to her family and supporters:
I know that I am getting no more than I deserve. I am prepared to answer for my sins, and I believe that the Lord has forgiven me. I fear that Mrs. Belote may not have been Christian. I blame no one for my situation. I hope to meet Mrs. Belote in heaven. I thank all who have worked on my behalf.
Christian was electrocuted in the state prison in Richmond at 7:23am on August 16, 1912, five months after Belote's death and one day after her 17th birthday.
Christian was the first female executed in the South in 16 years, and the first to be killed by electrocution.
She was also, to date, the last female executed in the electric chair by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The state did not execute another female prisoner until Teresa Lewis in 2010.
Although some newspapers reported her body was given to a state medical school, she was buried at the First Baptist Church cemetery in Hampton City. Over 1,500 people attended her funeral.
Aftermath
In 1910, the state of Virginia had passed a law insulating minors under the age of 17 from criminal charges. However, the law provided an exception for minors whom no institution would admit, and there were no institutions in the state for Black girls. The Crisis criticized the state of Virginia for not providing a reformatory for Black girls. In the aftermath of Christian's execution, the Virginia State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs established the first such reformatory, the Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls, in 1915.
See also
Capital punishment for juveniles in the United States
Hannah Ocuish
Mary (slave)
George Stinney
James Arcene
Forsaken, a historical novel written about Christian
References
Bibliography
Baker, David (March 2008). "Black Female Executions in Historical Context" (PDF). Criminal Justice Review. 33 (1). Riverside, Ca: SAGE Publications / Georgia State University: 64–88. doi:10.1177/0734016808316782. ISSN 0734-0168. S2CID 144717701. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 16, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
Harris, Lashawn (June 1, 2014). "The "Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Virginia Christian": Southern Black Women, Crime & Punishment in Progressive Era Virginia". Journal of Social History. 47 (4): 922–942. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
Jones, Lindsey Elizabeth (January 2, 2018). ""The most unprotected of all human beings": Black Girls, State Violence, and the Limits of Protection in Jim Crow Virginia". Souls. 20 (1): 14–37. doi:10.1080/10999949.2018.1520062. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
Moten, Derryn E. (Summer 2011). Adams, Rosemary (ed.). "A Most Unfortunate and Evil Day". Chicago History. Vol. 37, no. 2. Chicago: Chicago Historical Society. pp. 40–55.
External links
Lundin, Leigh (August 16, 1912). "Death Certificate". Richmond, Va: Criminal Brief.
Christman, Roger (September 14, 2010). "Virginia Christian: The Last Woman Executed by Virginia?". Virginia Memory. Richmond, Va: Library of Virginia. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
Forsaken: The Digital Bibliography at Virginia Memory
Christman, Roger (August 16, 2012). "Souls of the Departed: Ida V. Belote". Virginia Memory. Richmond, Va: Library of Virginia. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
virginia christianvirginia christian universityvirginia christian collegevirginia christiansburgvirginia christian schoolvirginia christianityvirginia christian collegesvirginia christian academyvirginia christian radio stationsvirginia christian actressSearch ResultsArtikel Terkait "virginia christian"
Virginia Christian (August 15, 1895 – August 16, 1912) was a child executed in the United States. Christian, an intellectually disabled [1] black maid, was convicted of the murder of her employer Ida Belote, a 52-year-old white woman, in her home at Hampton on March 18, 1912.
14 Sep 2010 · On 16 August 1912, 17-year-old Virginia Christian was electrocuted at the Virginia Penitentiary for the 18 March 1912 murder of Ida Belote, her white employer. Today, she remains the only woman to be executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia since the General Assembly centralized executions at the Virginia State Penitentiary in 1908.
12 Jan 2018 · 17-year-old Virginia Christian was the first and last female juvenile to be executed in the electric chair in 1912. At a time when Jim Crow legislation and racial purity laws were in …
Virginia Christian, a black maid, was convicted for the murder of her employer Ida Virginia Belote, a white woman, aged 72 years, in her home at Hampton on 18 March 1912, and executed by electroction in Virginia on August 16, 1912.
Virginia Christian was the only woman executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia between 1908, when the General Assembly centralized executions at the Virginia State Penitentiary, and 2010, when a second woman was executed for murder.
01 Jun 2014 · Appalled by the Commonwealth of Virginia’s decision to condemn a sixteen year-old girl to the electric chair, early twentieth century era anti-racist reformers appealed to state politicians in hopes of getting Christian’s death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
05 Feb 2016 · Virginia Christian is the only African-American juvenile woman ever executed in the state of Virginia. She was executed the day after her 17th birthday in 1912.
17-year-old Virginia Christian murdered her employer, Ida Belote on March 18, 1912. Ida Belote, 51 was one of Hampton's white aristocracy by way of her father's prominence as the owner of a large grocery. News accounts described her as weighing only 91 pounds, "a frail, delicate widow". Virginia, called Gennie was Belote's washerwoman. Belote ...
24 Jul 2024 · Virginia Christian University is a private, non-profit, Christian institution that offers a unique fusion of theological and secular education. Its commitment to Christian values plays an essential part in its mission, creating a distinct faith-filled environment.
Godly Relationships Protecting Values in Virginia: Legislative Highlights from the Family Foundation of Virginia
