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Photograph of courtroom sketch of L.C. Graves testifying during the Ruby trial
Photograph of courtroom sketch of L.C. Graves testifying during the Ruby trial

Photograph of courtroom sketch of L.C. Graves testifying during the Ruby trial

Object number2019.026.0006
Date03/05/1964
ClassificationsArt
Artist Woodi Ishmael
ObjectCourtroom sketch
Credit LineThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection
MediumPaper, Photo
Dimensions8 1/16 × 10 in. (20.5 × 25.4 cm)
Collections
DescriptionPhotograph of courtroom pencil sketch on paper by Associated Press courtroom artist Woodi Ishmael. The sketch shows Lt. L.C. Graves during the Jack Ruby trial on March 5, 1964. The sketch shows Lt. Graves testifying to District Attorney Henry Wade with Graves on the left and Wade in the lower right corner. In the center of the image is an interpretive sketch of two people's arms struggling over a pistol. A typed caption reads: "(DN9) Dallas, Tex., March 5-- Witness Tells of Struggle-- This sketch by Artist Woodi Ishmael depicts the scene in District Criminal Court in Dallas today as the first witness, L.C. Graves, left, a Dallas police officer, explained to District Attorney Henry Wade, right, how he grappled with Jack Ruby after Ruby had shot Lee Harvey Oswald. (AP Wirephoto Sketch)" Ishmael's signature "Woodi Ishmael" is located along the lower edge of the sketch. Ishmael made the original sketches for the Associated Press during the trial of Jack Ruby after the judge barred cameras from the courtroom.
Curatorial Commentary
In addition to covering the Jack Ruby trial as a sketch artist for the Associated Press, artist Woodi Ishmael (1914-1995) illustrated more than thirty-five books, painted portraits of fifty-four Air Medal of Honor winners, served as artist-in-residence aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth 2 and illustrated for a number of publications, including the Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan and National Geographic. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
Detective L.C. Graves recorded an oral history with the Museum on March 2, 1994. He passed away just under a year later on February 11, 1995. The suit that Detective Graves was wearing at the time of the Oswald shooting was donated by his widow to the City of Dallas. It was borrowed by The Sixth Floor Museum and displayed as part of a special exhibit, Dallas Law Enforcement: Voices from History, from November 2006 to October 2007. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator