This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of 30-year-old Walter Wilson, a laborer from Cleveland. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. Wilson was the 298th individual to be executed via the electric chair in Ohio. The caption at the bottom reads: “No. 298 Walter Wilson Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Legally Electrocuted July 13, 1956, for the Murder of Joseph Fena.” In 1885 the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, became the location for all executions, which previously took place in the various county seats. In 1896 the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. The Ohio Penitentiary regularly offered tours as well as sou...