The film is a dramatic reenactment of the execution of Leon Czolgosz by electric chair at Auburn Correctional Facility following his 1901 conviction for the assassination of William McKinley.
[1] Throughout 1901, Edison had produced and released numerous films about the assassination, due to intense public interest.
[3][4] According to the Edison Studios catalog of the time, the film is: A detailed reproduction of the execution of the assassin of President McKinley faithfully carried out from the description of an eye witness.
The keepers are seen taking Czolgosz from his cell to the death chamber, and shows State Electrician, Wardens and Doctors making final test of the chair.
The doctors examine the body and report to the Warden that he is dead, and he in turn officially announces the death to the witness.Because copyright did not cover films until The Townsend Amendment of 1912 updated the Copyright Act of 1909, Edison Manufacturing Company submitted a paper copy to the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress, now part of the collection in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.