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Finding Aid to the Rosalie Ritz courtroom drawings, 1968-1982
BANC PIC 1991.012--B
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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).
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 Bancroft Library collections are stored off-site and advance notice may be required for use. For current
information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Access Information
Copyright retained by the family of Rosalie Ritz.
Use or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use (Title 17, U.S.C. § 107) requires
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[Identification of item], Rosalie Ritz courtroom drawings, BANC PIC 1991.012, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley
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.
The Rosalie Ritz Courtroom Drawings were given to The Bancroft Library by Rosalie Ritz in 1991.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.