Gerald Chapman, the notorious criminal who became America's first 'Public Enemy Number One,' made his final desperate plea to escape the electric chair today in Connecticut. The Board of Pardons unanimously rejected his appeal for commutation, sealing his fate after he spoke for 32 minutes in his own defense, declaring 'I am asking for justice.' His attorney Frederick Groehl made a last-ditch effort, claiming '99 per cent of the people in Hartford believe in the innocence of the defendant' and begging for just 10 more days to produce new witnesses. Meanwhile, at the White House, President and Mrs. Coolidge presided over the annual Easter egg roll, where the First Lady delighted crowds by mingling freely with children on the South Lawn. She cuddled a red-headed, freckled youngster, telling onlookers 'I like them red-headed and freckled' as she strolled the grounds with the White House collies Rob Roy and Prudence Prim. The festivities proceeded 'without casualties, barring the damage done to the eggs themselves.'

These stories capture America in 1926 at a fascinating crossroads between tradition and modernity. The Chapman case represents the era's fascination with celebrity criminals—he was one of the first to capture national attention through newspapers and radio, foreshadowing the media circuses around later figures like John Dillinger. Meanwhile, the Coolidge White House exemplifies the decade's more relaxed, optimistic spirit, with a First Lady comfortable enough to wade into crowds of children—a stark contrast to the formal, distant presidential families of earlier eras. The juxtaposition of a condemned man's final hours with a joyful Easter celebration perfectly embodies the contradictions of the Roaring Twenties.

• Mrs. Coolidge walked the White House grounds with two dogs named Rob Roy and Prudence Prim—delightfully formal names for presidential pets
• Chapman's lawyer claimed to have received vital testimony from 'a woman whom he brought with him from New York' whose affidavit was 'not considered by Judge Jennings'
• A Chicago bootlegger complained that wine at 10 cents a glass 'did not pay' because of too much competition, citing 17 places in her neighborhood selling wine for less
• Fourteen women playing poker in a Bronx apartment were robbed by three gunmen who whispered their orders to avoid waking four sleeping children in the next room
• The Byrd Arctic expedition's only successful last-minute applicant was 'Dynamite, a fox terrier sent to Comdr. Byrd by friends in Washington' to serve as mascot

• Commander Richard Byrd, featured setting off for his Arctic expedition, would become the first person to fly over the North Pole just one month later—though some historians still debate whether he actually made it
• Gerald Chapman was literally America's first 'Public Enemy'—the term was coined specifically for him by newspapers covering his crime spree, predating the FBI's famous 'Public Enemy Number One' lists by several years
• The White House Easter Egg Roll tradition mentioned here nearly ended in 1876 when Congress banned it from the Capitol grounds—it only survived because President Hayes moved it to the White House lawn
• Former Kansas Governor Jonathan Davis is suing for $5 million in damages—equivalent to about $75 million today, making it one of the largest libel suits of the decade
• Vincent Astor's yacht Nourmahal, mentioned as carrying Byrd expedition guests, would later be requisitioned by the Navy in World War II and serve as Franklin Roosevelt's presidential yacht