Yellow Mama - Definition and Overview

Yellow Mama is the nickname given to Alabama's electric chair. The name was given after the entire chair was painted with yellow highway paint. The chair was built by an inmate back in 1927, and was first used to execute Horace DeVauhan that same year. Yellow Mama is now inside the execution chamber at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. The last execution to occur in the chair was that of Lynda Lyon Block on May 10, 2002. Following her execution, a bill was passed that would allow for execution by either lethal injection or electrocution.