A man in a dark jacket and light trousers stands beside a tall stack of trunks, suitcases and hatboxes, one hatbox open. — Open the full imageJPG, 496 × 640 px, 0.1 MB

John W. McDonald, narcotic agent, August 1936 (Library of Congress)

Harris & Ewing photograph captioned with the name of a federal narcotic agent, John W. McDonald, standing beside a stack of trunks and suitcases. A copy is stored here.

Date: 1936-08
Kind: photograph
Source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
Rights: The Library of Congress item record states: "No known restrictions on publication. For more information, see Harris & Ewing Photographs - Rights and Restrictions Information https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/140_harr.html" Collection: Harris & Ewing photograph collection. Call number: LC-H2- B-10905. Reproduction number: LC-DIG-hec-33511.

The Library of Congress titles this glass negative “John W. McDonald, narcotic agent” and dates it “[1936 August],” a date it estimates from nearby negatives. Title and date come from unverified sleeve data. The Library holds two other portraits of McDonald from the same sitting.

The caption says nothing about the luggage in the frame: not whose it was, where it was, or whether it was evidence in a case. This page does not supply that. The copy stored here is the Library’s 640-pixel service JPEG.

itemCanadian and U.S. narcotics officials meet on marihuana control, Washington, 24 March 1937 or 1938 (Library of Congress)Harris & Ewing photograph of Col. C.H.L. Sharman, Chief of Canadian Narcotic Control, Harry Anslinger, U.S. Commissioner of Narcotics, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Stephen B. Gibbons, at a meeting on cooperation in marihuana control. A copy is stored here.

itemNarcotics agents with over 400 lbs. of marijuana, 1963 (Library of Congress)New York World-Telegram & Sun staff photograph by Ed Ford of three narcotics agents named in the caption, with packages of marijuana in open suitcases. A copy is stored here.