As many of you know, my book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in the Age of Rage is scheduled for release in a few months. I am putting together the final edits and art. I have run into a curious problem with a widely referenced historical figure, socialist leader Charles Schenck. The defendant in Schenck v. United States is associated with the decision where Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes coined his famous “shouting fire” analogy. However, I have not been able to find a good picture of Schenck himself, a curious paucity of imagery given his historical importance. I may be missing some resource, so I thought I would reach out to our readership to see if anyone knows of such images. I found one image that may be Schenck but I was not able to confirm the authenticity.
Charles T. Schenck was general secretary of the U.S. Socialist Party and his conviction led to the historical decision in the Supreme Court in 1919. Many searches come up with a picture that is actually Oliver Wendell Holmes. Others are clearly the wrong Charles Schenck. There is one image that, when you run it down, is from a small site without confirming sources. Ideally, we are looking for a high resolution image with a confirmed source.
So, have you seen this man?
On a less urgent need, I am also trying to find a high resolution image of Montana Judge George M. Bourquin. His portrait is found at the Montana State House, which does have an image but they charge of its use and have an added charge for a high resolution digital image. I am exploring that option, but I am not sure if there are other public domain, high resolution photos of the judge. The portrait is accessible to the public in the capitol. There are plenty of images on the Internet, but it has to be a high resolution image to pass muster with the Simon & Schuster quality standards.
Re: Schneck – have you tried Newspapers.com?
Red Herrings – for those attempting the challenge, here are links to people who’s photos are mistakenly attributed to Carl T Schenck
Misattributed due to similarity of name:
Carl Alwin Schenck – 1868-1955. Pioneer of American forestry
* Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_A._Schenck
* Page containing most commonly misattributed photo: https://northernwoodlands.org/knots_and_bolts/the-biltmore-stick-family-story
Carl H J Schenck – German Technology pioneer and businesman
* https://schenck.net/en/about-us/history/
Eugene A Schenck – Illinois businessman
* https://www.ksgenweb.org/archives/wyandott/history/1911/volume2/s/schencea.html
Misattributed due to photo being on webpage that discusses court case:
Oliver Wendel Holmes – Justice of Supreme Court that made the decision.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Wendell_Holmes_Jr.
Eugene Debs – Prominent Socialist of that era.
* https://study.com/learn/lesson/schenck-v-united-states-summary.html
Real photo? The link from Anonymous (1/21/24 7:45pm), from the bestbobomk.life site, might be a good one, but there are no real details that support that person actually being CS. It could be just some person distributing pamphlets in union square. My google image search using the photo didn’t find any other sources for it.
I suggest you contact W C Cox and Company in Tucson, Arizona
James Adams
https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrFQi_iB65ltRk2MRxXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Nj?p=Charles+Schenck&fr=mcafee
Maybe https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=%2FkW1txyH&id=7546B4F11F02364E90243D058C7C69D481E2A8A2&thid=OIP._kW1txyH1-aJCGxpes3n8wHaFj&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimage3.slideserve.com%2F6071542%2Fschenck-v-us-1919-n.jpg&cdnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR.fe45b5b71c87d7e689086c697acde7f3%3Frik%3DoqjigdRpfIwFPQ%26pid%3DImgRaw%26r%3D0&exph=540&expw=720&q=photo+charles+t+schenck&simid=608049683340337529&form=IRPRST&ck=7B9F370BFDB823CCDC925A4ABC1F49AC&selectedindex=0&itb=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0&vt=2&sim=11
Photo here: http://njdigitalhistory.org/1919/schenck-v-united-states/
It’s used in a background behind the title, but you can get to the actual photo easily enough. And if it’s not high enough resolution, there are AI tools that can enlarge it and enhance clarity.
Oops, just checked and see that’s not him.
I thought I had a picture of Charles Schenck but it turns out it is a picture of Svelaz.
Matthew 7:7-8
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Jonathan: Sorry, but I can’t help you. That said, Charles Schenck is interesting because he was convicted of violating the 1917 Espionage Act and his conviction was upheld by the SC because Justice Homes’ found Schenck was a “clear and present danger”–despite the fact it was never proven Schenck was a “spy” for Germany. It was only that the Socialist leader was vocal in his opposition to the WWI draft.
Frankly, I think the Espionage Act should be repealed by Congress. It’s a relic used to prosecute many whose only offense was to oppose US foreign policies. It was unsuccessfully used against Daniel Ellsberg who published the Pentagon papers that revealed many of the atrocities committed by the US in Vietnam. But the DOJ is still trying to use the EA against Julian Assange–if they can get him extradited from the UK. And what is Assange’s alleged crime? That he published damaging information that proved embarrassing to the Defense establishment.
I just hope that in your new book you will also call for the repeal of the EA as anti-ethical to “free speech”.
“I’m not a “pretend” lawyer. Want to see my certificates to practice in both state and federal court?”
Dennis, I know you are anxious that everyone sees the extent of your abilities. I want to make sure that you know your certificates have yet to make it to the blog. I would hate for you to be embarrassed, so I am notifying you.
S. Meyer: The “extent of my abilities” is probably over rated. However, I am a legend in my own mind. Of all the certificates I have received the one I prize the most is the one my 3 granddaughters made for me many years ago. I framed it and the inscription reads: “Best Grandpa in the Universe”. That beats the Nobel Peace Prize any day! By the way what is your claim to fame?
Dennis, OK, you weren’t truthful about your degrees or almost everything you said. That you rank your grandchildren high is lovely, something we share.
You want to know my claim to fame other than my family. I make no claims to fame or made-up degrees. Nor do I need to. You have to rely on the content of my replies. I will say that I am honest and don’t need to lie.
Dennis McIntyre, you should be careful. Someone may be building a peeping tom wall to view your grand daughters just like the one you built to view your neighbor while she was sun bathing. Someone might also teach your grand daughters how to give a proper blow job in a book in a Junior High School library. You have on more than one occasion tried to convince us that such books should be allowed for your grand daughters to see in their formative years. Thank you for your contributions.
https://bestbobomk.life/product_details/41413558.html
I think this is the guy, distributing Manifests.
Jonathan, saw this: https://images.slideplayer.com/15/4556253/slides/slide_6.jpg
Sir,
There is one web site that has a picture of Charles Schenck and it seems to be a good picture to me.
I am sure you probably have seen the picture on the website but just in case you didn’t here is the website:
https://njdigitalhistory.org/1919/schenck-v-united-states/
Diana B.
That photo on njdigitalhistory.org is NOT Charles Schenck. It’s Dr. Carl Alwin Schenck. See, the following link, which includes a scan of the back of the photo: https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollections/forestry/schenck/series_vii/schenck/schenck_schenck.html
Try this: https://www.awesomestories.com/images/user/0640e2af71.jpg
Since he was General Secretary of the Socialist party of Philadelphia, you many want to search the Philadelphia Inquirer archives which should provide you with the source validation you need.