Following a history of the execution of women from 1900, chapters consider the death penalty process for each of the States that currently have women on death row, as well as the States that have had women on death row in the past. The States considered are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia. Seventeen States currently have women on death row, and as of July 1998 there were 47 women on death row in the United States. This is the largest group of women on death row at any one time in U.S. history. No other "advanced" county, in time of peace, has had more. So far, 31 States have legally executed women at some time in their history, suggesting a broad acceptance of the practice. In the 17 States that currently have women on death row, the women may be hanged, shot by a firing squad, given cyanide gas to inhale, electrocuted, or given poison through an intravenous drop. Appended data show the number of women on death row in 1998, the number of women with death sentences by State, the length of time on death row, women's death sentences since 1900, and the ages of women on death row in 1998. A 260-item bibliography and a subject index