3. The Chair Was Just Up the Road

Episode 3 of 11:The electric chair was invented in Auburn, NY, practically next door to Baldwinsville, and its first execution went so badly that witnesses called it torture. We’ll explore what it meant for Harriet Schmoll to face the prospect of that machine.It Made the Papers is researched, written, and produced by 8th-grade journalism students at Durgee Junior High School in Baldwinsville, NY, with support from their ELA teacher and school librarian. Season one, Murder on Marble Street, follows a 1900 murder in the students' own village and the questions it raises about life at the turn of the century. The series was inspired by Johnathan Croyle's November 2025 article on the case for Syracuse.com:⁠ https://www.syracuse.com/living/2025/11/did-jealousy-or-temporary-insanity-cause-a-baldwinsville-woman-to-shoot-her-neighbor-in-1900.html⁠ Image ResourcesEpisode cover art courtesy of the Auburn Correctional FacilitySound ResourcesHeartbeat - heartbeat-80bpm-limited.wav by loudernoises -- https://freesound.org/s/332819/ -- License: Creative Commons 0Electric shock - electric_shock.flac by musmaster -- https://freesound.org/s/581290/ -- License: Creative Commons 0