Finding Aid to the Rosalie Ritz courtroom drawings, 1968-1982

Bancroft Library Staff

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000

Phone: (510) 642-6481

Fax: (510) 642-7589

Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu/

URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/

Finding Aid to the Rosalie Ritz courtroom drawings, 1968-1982

Collection number: BANC PIC 1991.012--B

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000

Phone: (510) 642-6481

Fax: (510) 642-7589

Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu/

URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/

Finding Aid Author(s):: Bancroft Library Staff
Finding Aid Encoded By:: GenX

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Rosalie Ritz courtroom drawings

Date (inclusive): 1968-1982

Collection Number: BANC PIC 1991.012--B

Creator: Ritz, Rosalie

Extent: 27 boxes (1,824 drawings): color ; 46 x 61 cm. or smaller. 1835 digital objects

Repository: The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000

Phone: (510) 642-6481

Fax: (510) 642-7589

Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu/

URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/

Abstract: COLLECTION RESTRICTED: See Information for Researchers for more information.

Original courtroom art depicts many famous California trials of the late 1960's to early 1980's. These drawings were used to report on the trial in the media, as cameras were not allowed in court. Trials illustrated are: Alioto-Look (1970-1972), Leslie Bacon (1971), Bonanno brothers (1971), Camarillo State Hospital (1976), James Carr arraignment or trial (1972), Eldridge Cleaver (1976), Juan Corona (1971-1973, 1982), Angela Davis (1971-1972), Russell Little and Joseph Remiro (1974), John Linley Frazier (1971-1972), Inez Garcia (1977), Bill and Emily Harris (1975, 1978), Patricia Hearst (1975-1976), Hell's Angels (1971-1972), David Hilliard Trial (1968-1971), Alioto Conflict of Interest Trial (1976), Stephanie Kline (1972), Larry Layton (1981), Ruchell Magee (1970-1973), Sara Jane Moore (1975-1976), Huey Newton (1968, 1971), Daniel Ellsberg - Anthony Russo & the Pentagon Papers (1972), Presidio Court Marshall, Fort Ord Mutiny (1969), California Proposition hearings (1975) [unidentified ballot proposition, most likely California's Proposition 15, on nuclear waste storage], Los Siete de la Raza, (1970), San Quentin Six (1971-1976), Steven Soliah (1975), Sirhan Sirhan (1969), Billy Dean Smith (1972), Soledad Brothers (1971-1972), Bob Wells (1975), Dan White (1978), Wendy Yoshimura (1975-1977), and the Zebra murders (1975).

Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English

Physical Location: Many of The Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Information for Researchers

Access Information

Publication Rights

Materials in this collection are protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Rosalie Ritz courtroom drawings, BANC PIC 1991.012--B, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog

Cleaver, Eldridge, 1935---Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Corona, Juan Vallejo--Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Davis, Angela Yvonne, 1944---Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Ellsberg, Daniel.--Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Hearst, Patricia, 1954---Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Magee, Ruchell--Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Newton, Huey P.--Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Russo, Anthony J. (Anthony Joseph)--Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Sirhan, Sirhan Bishara, 1944---Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Smith, Billy Dean, 1948---Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

White, Dan--Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Black Panther Party--Pictorial works.

Hell's Angels--Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

Symbionese Liberation Army--Trials, litigation, etc.--Pictorial works.

African American prisoners--California--Pictorial works.

Trials (Murder)--California--Pictorial works.

Trials--Pictorial works.

Courtroom sketches.

Drawings--Color.

Administrative Information

Provenance

The Rosalie Ritz Courtroom Drawings were given to The Bancroft Library by Rosalie Ritz in 1991.

Arrangement Note

Drawings have been arranged chronologically, then by name of trial. Series numbers have been assigned to each trial by the library, adhering to this chronological arrangement. The present finding aid, however, has been presented alphabetically by trial name in order to bring related trials together, regardless of date. Item numbers and box numbers will, therefore, appear out of sequence in this listing.

Processing Information

Processed by Bancroft Technical Services Staff. An initial inventory made by staff in 1991-1992 was heavily revised in 2010-2011 by Sandy Ritz, daughter of artist Rosalie Ritz. She provided many of the identifications recorded in this finding aid, and corrected numerous errors in identification.

Biography

Rosalie Ritz studied art at the Layton Art School, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and later at the Artists' Co-op Studio in Washington, D.C. Prior to her career as a courtroom artist, her paintings, drawings, and sculpture were exhibited at numerous galleries, including the Smithsonian and the Corcoran Museum in Washington.

In 1966 Ritz moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. There, she began work as a free-lance courtroom artist for KPIX-TV (a San Francisco CBS affiliate), and the Associated Press, among others. Ritz provided in-depth visual coverage as trials progressed, making up to eighteen drawings a day of many high-profile cases of the late 1960s and 1970s. These images were broadcast by television news shows and reproduced in print media.

In 1972 Ritz was presented with a Special Award for Art by the Associated Press. Her drawings have been exhibited at Gilbert Galleries, San Francisco, at San Francisco State University, and at other Bay Area community venues.

Scope and Content

Original courtroom art by Rosalie Ritz depicts many famous California-based trials, hearings, and arraignments of the late 1960's to early 1980's. These drawings were used to report on trials in the media, as cameras were not allowed in court. They were broadcast by television news programs and constituted a central part of the coverage of prominent trials. Many drawings were also published by newspapers and magazines nationally. The trials to which Ritz was assigned were those with the greatest media interest at the time, and included trials of Black Panther Party members, the Soledad Brothers, Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army, San Francisco Supervisor Dan White, and many others. The collection provides not only important documentation of high-profile legal cases, but also provides insight into a distinct era of the television news media.

Cases illustrated in the collection are: Alioto -- Look Magazine (1970-1972); Leslie Bacon hearing (1971); Bonanno brothers (1971); Camarillo State Hospital (1976); James Carr murder arraignment or trial (1972); Eldridge Cleaver (1976); Juan Corona (1971-1973, 1982); Angela Davis (1971-1972); Presidio Court Marshal, Fort Ord Mutiny (1969); Russell Little and Joseph Remiro [Symbionese Liberation Army] (1974); John Linley Frazier (1971-1972); Inez Garcia (1977); Bill and Emily Harris [Symbionese Liberation Army] (1975, 1978); Patricia Hearst [Symbionese Liberation Army] (1975-1976); Hell's Angels (1971-1972); David Hilliard [Black Panthers] (1968-1971); Alioto Conflict of Interest Trial (1976), Stephanie Kline (1972); Larry Layton [People's Temple] (1981); Ruchell Magee (1970-1973); Sara Jane Moore (1975-1976); Huey Newton (1968, 1971); Daniel Ellsberg - Anthony Russo & Pentagon Papers (1972); San Francisco Presidio Court Marshall (1969); California Proposition hearings (1975); the San Quentin Six (1971-1976); Los Siete de la Raza (1970); Sirhan Sirhan (1969); Billy Dean Smith (1972); Steven Soliah hearing [Symbionese Liberation Army] (1975); Soledad Brothers (1971-1972); Anti-War Hearings [SF Municipal Court, Vietnam Veterans Against the War] (undated); Wesley Robert Wells [Bob Wells] (1975); Dan White (1978); Wendy Yoshimura [Symbionese Liberation Army] (1975-1977); and the Zebra murders (1975).

General Note

Descriptive captions for items in this finding aid have been transcribed from annotations on the original drawings. Information provided by library staff is enclosed in square brackets.

Container Listing

Alioto - Look Magazine 1st Libel Trial 1971

Physical Description: 13 drawings

Scope and Content Note

Trial drawings of former San Francisco mayor Joseph Alioto's libel suit against Look Magazine.

Additional Note

[Source: S.Ritz]: Libel suit against Look Magazine by S.F. Mayor Joseph Alioto for 9/23/69 Look article that Alioto claimed linked him unfairly to the Mafia. First trial ended in hung jury, followed by 3 re-trials.

box 4

Judge Bruce Thompson U.S. District Court 1970 BANC PIC 1991.012.008:1--B