Abraham Zapruder Film
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Overview
The Abraham Zapruder film is acknowledged to be the definitive view of the death of President Kennedy, for it is the only known movie showing the entire assassination sequence. Experts still debate over exactly what it does show and what is not clearly revealed. The film reel begins with family scenes of Zapruder’s grandchildren (not seen here), then shows his office assistant, Lillian Rogers, at her desk the morning of the assassination. After filming two of his coworkers in Dealey Plaza, Zapruder filmed the approaching motorcade from a pedestal above and to the right of the parade route. A U.S. Congressional committee confiscated the original film from the Zapruder family in 1997; after being compensated by the U.S. government, the family donated copies of the film and color transparencies of each frame, as well as the film’s copyright, to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in 1999. (Note: two extremely short pre-assassination scenes, one in Zapruder’s office and one in Dealey Plaza, are not included here until film restoration work has been completed.)
Date
1963-11-22
Collection
Zapruder Collection
Object Number
1999.042
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