Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Photograph of courtroom sketch of substitute judge J. Frank Wilson at Ruby trial
Photograph of courtroom sketch of substitute judge J. Frank Wilson at Ruby trial

Photograph of courtroom sketch of substitute judge J. Frank Wilson at Ruby trial

Object number2014.034.0031
Date03/03/1964
ClassificationsArt
Artist Howard Brodie
ObjectCourtroom sketch
Credit LineTonahill Family Partners Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumPaper
Dimensions14 1/2 × 19 5/16 in. (36.8 × 49.1 cm)
Collections
DescriptionPhotograph of courtroom pencil sketch on paper by CBS News courtroom artist Howard Brodie. The sketch shows substitute judge J. Frank Wilson during the Jack Ruby trial on March 3, 1964. The sketch shows Judge J. Frank Wilson seated at the judge's bench with one hand resting against his chin. A microphone is positioned in front of him, and his glasses are on the desk in front of him. Handwritten captions along the bottom edge of the image read "3/3/64," "Judge J. Frank Wilson, substitute jud.," and "save sketches for Brodie." The artist's signature "Brodie" is located in the lower right under the sketch and above the captions. 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
Prior to serving as a Texas Criminal Court District Judge in Dallas County, Joseph Franklin Wilson (1901-1968) was a U.S. Congressman from Texas's 5th district from 1947 to 1955. For the Jack Ruby trial, Judge Wilson's larger Criminal District Court No. 1 courtroom was needed to accommodate more members of the news media. Beginning with jury selection on February 17, 1964, until the verdict was announced on March 14, 1964, the trial was held in Wilson's courtroom on the second floor of the Dallas County Criminal Courts Building. This unusual move allowed Judge Wilson to take a vacation, although he was called in to temporarily preside over the Ruby trial while Judge Joe B. Brown was out sick. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator