Gavel belonging to Judge Joe B. Brown
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Gavel belonging to Judge Joe B. Brown
Gavel belonging to Judge Joe B. Brown, likely used during the Jack Ruby trial in February and March 1964.
Gavel belonging to Judge Joe B. Brown
1964
Wood
9 1/2 x 3 x 1 3/4 in. (24.1 x 7.6 x 4.4 cm)
Judge Joe B. Brown, Jr. Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2004.010.0167
Judge Brown's personal recollections of presiding over the Ruby trial were published in 2001 in a compelling memoir, Dallas and the Jack Ruby Trial, edited by Diane Holloway. The book also includes commentary about the Warren Commision interrogation of Jack Ruby and the polygraph tests conducted by the FBI. - Krishna Shenoy, Librarian/Archivist
In 2004, Judge Joe B. Brown, Jr., son of Judge Joe B. Brown who presided over the Jack Ruby trial in 1964, decided to donate his late father's Ruby-related correspondence, photographs and documents to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. I had the pleasure of visiting with Judge Brown at his home and recording a lengthy oral history about his and his late father's experiences. As we looked through the archive of documentation that was being donated to the Museum that day, I began to notice other unique items displayed around his home, including a collection of his late father's pipes and gavels and, hanging in his garage, the original sign from outside his father's courtroom in the Dallas County Criminal Courts Building. Joe Brown, Jr., did not realize that artifacts such as these were historic and of great interest and value to the Museum. He generously donated artifacts that the Museum identified as being historically significant, including this gavel which is believed to be the one that Judge Brown used during the Ruby trial. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
This item, along with materials from the DA's Ruby file (which is on loan to the Museum) and from the Museum's permanent collection, briefly appeared in a temporary display on the Museum's seventh floor in 2017. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections
Gavel belonging to Judge Joe B. Brown
Gavel belonging to Judge Joe B. Brown, likely used during the Jack Ruby trial in February and March 1964.
Gavel belonging to Judge Joe B. Brown
1964
Trials
Jack Ruby trial
Brown, Judge Joe B.
Dallas
Wood
9 1/2 x 3 x 1 3/4 in. (24.1 x 7.6 x 4.4 cm)
Judge Joe B. Brown, Jr. Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2004.010.0167
Judge Brown's personal recollections of presiding over the Ruby trial were published in 2001 in a compelling memoir, Dallas and the Jack Ruby Trial, edited by Diane Holloway. The book also includes commentary about the Warren Commision interrogation of Jack Ruby and the polygraph tests conducted by the FBI. - Krishna Shenoy, Librarian/Archivist
In 2004, Judge Joe B. Brown, Jr., son of Judge Joe B. Brown who presided over the Jack Ruby trial in 1964, decided to donate his late father's Ruby-related correspondence, photographs and documents to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. I had the pleasure of visiting with Judge Brown at his home and recording a lengthy oral history about his and his late father's experiences. As we looked through the archive of documentation that was being donated to the Museum that day, I began to notice other unique items displayed around his home, including a collection of his late father's pipes and gavels and, hanging in his garage, the original sign from outside his father's courtroom in the Dallas County Criminal Courts Building. Joe Brown, Jr., did not realize that artifacts such as these were historic and of great interest and value to the Museum. He generously donated artifacts that the Museum identified as being historically significant, including this gavel which is believed to be the one that Judge Brown used during the Ruby trial. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
This item, along with materials from the DA's Ruby file (which is on loan to the Museum) and from the Museum's permanent collection, briefly appeared in a temporary display on the Museum's seventh floor in 2017. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections
Related objects
T33 Transcript of Writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of Jack Ruby, 1966
03/18/1966
Tobacco pipe belonging to Judge Joe B. Brown
circa 1960
Photograph of courtroom sketch of Judge Brown instructing jury at Ruby trial
03/13/1964
Photograph of courtroom sketch of attorneys and Judge Joe B. Brown at Ruby trial
February 1964 - March 1964
