Vintage Photos, Genealogy & Crime Stories
Bess was the wife of Harry A. Nelson, the Deputy Assessor of Alameda County, California. It was the Great Depression, and many people were suffering financial hardship, but the Nelsons were not among them. They lived in a comfortable home at 5314 Boyd Avenue in Oakland with their daughter Jessie and Bess’s mother, Mae Hulett. … Continue reading The Chauffeur in the Bedroom with the Lead Pipe
On the afternoon of July 10, 1961, a well-dressed young woman boarded a bus in St. Louis that was headed south to the state of Arkansas. She was not making the trip for pleasure; in fact it was risky. She was almost certain to be arrested, or even worse, attacked. The newspapers would later describe … Continue reading Freedom Rider Bliss
A young woman going by the name of Lena Duarte was sent to prison on Halloween day in 1901. Her crime? Sending an “obscene letter” via the US mail to her friend Mabel Smith when she was in Fresno. This was a felony and Lena’s conviction earned her a sentence of six months in San … Continue reading Lena’s Scarlet Letter
Captured and Exposed 