Image of the crowd lined up on the courthouse steps to see the Jack Ruby trial

Crowds formed each morning of the Jack Ruby trial as spectators waited in line for a chance to secure a seat inside the courtroom. Seating was very limited, and registered members of the news media were given priority access. Some of the interesting individuals to attend one or more days of the Jack Ruby trial included Marguerite Oswald, mother of accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald; the brothers and sisters of Jack Ruby; Ann Rose, wife of juror #10 J. Waymon Rose, who had no other way to see her husband while he was sequestered; and Joyce Martin, wife of ABC News broadcaster Murphy Martin. Joyce Martin, who recorded an oral history with the Museum in 2004, took detailed notes for her husband, who waited outside to conduct interviews with witnesses coming out of the courtroom. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

KTVT was the sole independent, non-network affiliated, TV station in Dallas-Fort Worth at that time. Today it is the CBS affiliate. - Gary Mack, Curator (1994-2015)

This image, along with materials from the DA's Ruby file (which is on loan to the Museum) and from the Museum's permanent collection, briefly appeared in a temporary display on the Museum's seventh floor in 2017. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections