Phil Willis Slide #14 (Willis 8)
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Phil Willis Slide #14 (Willis 8)
Original 35mm color slide taken by assassination witness Phil Willis showing Dallas police officers and a crowd of onlookers outside the front entrance of the Texas School Book Depository immediately following the assassination of President Kennedy. This image is commonly known as "Willis 8" by assassination researchers.
Phil Willis Slide #14 (Willis 8)
11/22/1963
Film
2 x 2 in. (5.1 x 5.1 cm)
Phil Willis Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2002.040.0011
This picture is generally known as Willis 8, meaning the eighth of twelve images Mr. Willis marketed in a single packet; all were copied from a master copy set, not directly from the original picture. Unlike this scan of the original picture, the slides in each packet are all slightly cropped, as was the set given to investigators by Mr. Willis. When the Warren Commission reproduced the twelve slides (identified as Willis Exhibit), conspiracy researchers suspected that the face of the man wearing sunglasses at the right was cropped because he was really Jack Ruby, the man who killed Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963. Ruby's presence in Dealey Plaza minutes after the assassination, they suspected, suggested his involvement in the president's assassination. However, investigators already knew that Ruby was actually blocks away at The Dallas Morning News advertising department with people who had known him for years. - Gary Mack, Curator
Phil Willis' entire family joined him in Dealey Plaza to see the president's motorcade: his wife, Marilyn, their daughters Linda and Rosemary, and Marilyn's parents, Mr. & Mrs. William H. Stubblefield. Neither Rosemary nor the Stubblefields were questioned by the Warren Commission, although the other members of the family were interviewed. - Gary Mack, Curator
In addition to witnessing the assassination of President Kennedy, Phil Willis was also present at another historic event: the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. A second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, Willis was assigned to the 86th Observation Squadron at Bellows Field in Oahu, Hawaii, during the Japanese attack. During World War II, he flew a total of 52 combat missions. Mr. Willis passed away in January 1995, before he could record an oral history with the Museum. However, his wife, Marilyn Willis, participated in a videotaped group interview with other assassination eyewitnesses on November 22, 1996. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
Phil Willis Slide #14 (Willis 8)
Original 35mm color slide taken by assassination witness Phil Willis showing Dallas police officers and a crowd of onlookers outside the front entrance of the Texas School Book Depository immediately following the assassination of President Kennedy. This image is commonly known as "Willis 8" by assassination researchers.
Phil Willis Slide #14 (Willis 8)
11/22/1963
Assassination
Photographs
Eyewitnesses
Crowds
Police
Kennedy, John F.
Willis, Phil
Texas School Book Depository
Dallas Police Department
Dallas
Film
2 x 2 in. (5.1 x 5.1 cm)
Phil Willis Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2002.040.0011
This picture is generally known as Willis 8, meaning the eighth of twelve images Mr. Willis marketed in a single packet; all were copied from a master copy set, not directly from the original picture. Unlike this scan of the original picture, the slides in each packet are all slightly cropped, as was the set given to investigators by Mr. Willis. When the Warren Commission reproduced the twelve slides (identified as Willis Exhibit), conspiracy researchers suspected that the face of the man wearing sunglasses at the right was cropped because he was really Jack Ruby, the man who killed Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963. Ruby's presence in Dealey Plaza minutes after the assassination, they suspected, suggested his involvement in the president's assassination. However, investigators already knew that Ruby was actually blocks away at The Dallas Morning News advertising department with people who had known him for years. - Gary Mack, Curator
Phil Willis' entire family joined him in Dealey Plaza to see the president's motorcade: his wife, Marilyn, their daughters Linda and Rosemary, and Marilyn's parents, Mr. & Mrs. William H. Stubblefield. Neither Rosemary nor the Stubblefields were questioned by the Warren Commission, although the other members of the family were interviewed. - Gary Mack, Curator
In addition to witnessing the assassination of President Kennedy, Phil Willis was also present at another historic event: the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. A second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, Willis was assigned to the 86th Observation Squadron at Bellows Field in Oahu, Hawaii, during the Japanese attack. During World War II, he flew a total of 52 combat missions. Mr. Willis passed away in January 1995, before he could record an oral history with the Museum. However, his wife, Marilyn Willis, participated in a videotaped group interview with other assassination eyewitnesses on November 22, 1996. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
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