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Photograph of courtroom sketch of Tonahill interviewing witness at Ruby trial
Photograph of courtroom sketch of Tonahill interviewing witness at Ruby trial

Photograph of courtroom sketch of Tonahill interviewing witness at Ruby trial

Object number2014.034.0016
DateFebruary 1964 - March 1964
ClassificationsArt
Artist Howard Brodie
ObjectCourtroom sketch
Credit LineTonahill Family Partners Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumPaper
Dimensions16 × 19 15/16 in. (40.6 × 50.6 cm)
Collections
DescriptionPhotograph of courtroom pencil sketch on paper by CBS News courtroom artist Howard Brodie. The sketch shows defense attorney Joe Tonahill interviewing a witness during the Jack Ruby trial in February or March of 1964. The sketch shows Tonahill standing on the left, directly in front of Judge Joe B. Brown. He is facing the unknown male witness who is looking directly at him. Two other unknown figures are in the foreground, one seated and one standing along the right edge of the image. They are likely attorneys, but their identities are unknown. A handwritten caption along the bottom edge of the image reads "Tonahill subpoenas witness." The artist's signature "Howard Brodie '64" is located in the lower right under the sketch, directly above the caption. Brodie made the original pencil sketches for CBS News during the trial of Jack Ruby after the judge barred cameras from the courtroom. Brodie then gave Joe Tonahill this photograph of a courtroom sketch as part of a collection of more than 40 in 1964.
Curatorial Commentary
Howard Brodie (1915-2010) was a sports artist for the San Francisco Chronicle when he enlisted in the U.S. Army with America's entry into World War II. He ultimately became one of the best-known sketch artists of the war, frequently published in the weekly U.S. military magazine, Yank, which ran from June 1942 to December 1945. After the war, Brodie spent the next thirty-five years as a courtroom artist, attending several notable trials including the Chicago Seven, Charles Manson and, of course, the Jack Ruby trial in 1964. For the Ruby trial, Brodie worked as a CBS-TV artist correspondent. Mr. Brodie recorded an oral history with the Museum in 2006. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator