From the Archives: People v. Leon Czolgosz, The Story of an Historical Trial Reenactment

Posted by: The Philistine at Bar | Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 08:22 PM

People of the State of New York v. Leon Czolgosz, Buffalo, 1901 - a 110th Anniversary

On September 6, 1901, President William McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo.  The President died September 14, 1901; Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn into office that same day. Czolgosz's trial took place on September 23, 1901 at Erie County Court in Buffalo.  He was found guilty and executed by electrocution thirty days later.  The last photo taken of Czolgosz is above.

In 2001, Buffalo undertook a Centennial celebration of the Pan-American Exposition, and the Bar Association of Erie County resolved to re-create the Czolgosz trial. We were in a unique position to do so. The trial transcript was available to us, as well as the murder weapon and handkerchief used to conceal the gun upon approaching the President.  In fact, the reenactment took place in the exact same courtroom as the Czolgosz trial a century before.

The reenactment took place 100 years …