# Photograph of a still, from the case file United States v. John Henry Hardin (federal court, northern Georgia)

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/items/nara-656696-hardin-still-photograph/

A mounted photograph from a Prohibition-era federal criminal case file at the National Archives at Atlanta: seven men in hats beside a still in the woods. The catalog says the case arose from an indictment for possessing equipment used to make "spirituous liquors."

The National Archives catalog title is "Photograph of a Still." It belongs to the case file "United States v. John Henry Hardin," which the catalog describes as "all papers collected in a criminal case against John Henry Hardin of Cherokee County, Georgia," a case that "resulted from Hardin's indictment during the Prohibition Era for possessing equipment used to produce 'spirituous liquors.'"

The mounted print is headed in handwriting "JOHN HENRY HARDIN." It shows seven men in hats standing beside a still in the woods: a tall metal column, a pipe and barrels, with one barrel overturned in the foreground. The catalog does not identify the men, and the heading does not say which of them, if any, is the defendant; this page does not identify anyone in the picture.

The catalog gives no date for the photograph or the case beyond "the Prohibition Era," and says nothing of the verdict. An indictment is a charge, not a finding; this page states no outcome.

## Sources

- National Archives Catalog, Records of District Courts of the United States (RG 21), General Index Case Files: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/656696
- National Archives file unit: United States v. John Henry Hardin (NAID 720686): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/720686