Color photo of men inside southeast sniper's perch corner of the sixth floor
Back
Color photo of men inside southeast sniper's perch corner of the sixth floor
Color photographic print on Kodak paper taken by amateur photographer Spaulding Jones of the inside of the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building. According to a handwritten note on the reverse of the print, the image was taken on the afternoon of either November 24 or November 25, 1963. However, this photo may have been taken during a Secret Service reenactment of the assassination on Wednesday, November 27, 1963. This image shows stacks of book boxes surrounding two unidentified men in the southeast corner sniper's perch of the sixth floor. One man is seated facing the south window, which is opened, with a firearm pointed out the window in front of him. The second man is wearing a suit, standing next to the open window and holding a telephone receiver to his left ear. A tripod and hammer are on top of a stack of boxes in front of the east-facing window, and behind the seated man. The men are likely investigators with the U.S. Secret Service or another law enforcement agency.
Color photo of men inside southeast sniper's perch corner of the sixth floor
11/24/1963 - 11/27/1963
Paper
3 1/4 × 4 3/4 in. (8.3 × 12.1 cm)
Spaulding Jones Family Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2012.065.0005
Spaulding Jones took these photos in the days following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. For more information see Spaulding Jones' oral history recorded on April 6, 1996 (1996.055.0007). - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits Manager
As the regional manager for Macmillan and Company publishers, Spaulding Jones had an office on the fourth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building in 1963. According to an oral history recorded in 1996, Mr. Jones believed that he encountered Lee Harvey Oswald on the morning of the assassination. Jones, who was with his two daughters at the Depository that day, recalled, "About the time I walked in and we were walking over to the elevator, another person walked in and took the elevator up with us. And he was just a person who worked in that Depository, and he did not go to the same floor that I did. He went to the third floor; I believe it was the third floor, but I'm not sure. I know that he went up with us on the elevator. And I just recognized him as one of the workers. Later on, I found out that that was Lee Harvey Oswald." Jones had intended to bring his 35mm camera with him to the office that day, but he accidentally left it at home. According to his oral history, he took his camera to the Depository the next morning, on Saturday, November 23, and went to the sixth floor to photograph the crime scenes. He recalled being challenged by law enforcement and was told that he was not allowed on the sixth floor. He recalled, "And I said, 'This is my building, and I can go anywhere that I want.' And they let me go." Based on the different handwritten dates on the backs of his photo prints and the presence and then absence of flowers in Dealey Plaza, Jones apparently ventured to the sixth floor with his camera on multiple occasions. His are the only known color photographs taken of the sniper's perch and rifle location during the weekend of the assassination. Mr. Jones passed away on July 2, 1997, at the age of 73. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
Color photo of men inside southeast sniper's perch corner of the sixth floor
Color photographic print on Kodak paper taken by amateur photographer Spaulding Jones of the inside of the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building. According to a handwritten note on the reverse of the print, the image was taken on the afternoon of either November 24 or November 25, 1963. However, this photo may have been taken during a Secret Service reenactment of the assassination on Wednesday, November 27, 1963. This image shows stacks of book boxes surrounding two unidentified men in the southeast corner sniper's perch of the sixth floor. One man is seated facing the south window, which is opened, with a firearm pointed out the window in front of him. The second man is wearing a suit, standing next to the open window and holding a telephone receiver to his left ear. A tripod and hammer are on top of a stack of boxes in front of the east-facing window, and behind the seated man. The men are likely investigators with the U.S. Secret Service or another law enforcement agency.
Color photo of men inside southeast sniper's perch corner of the sixth floor
11/24/1963 - 11/27/1963
Photographs
Windows
Boxes
Firearms
Pistols
Rifles
Jones, Spaulding
Texas School Book Depository
Scott Foresman and Company
Dallas Police Department
Dallas
Paper
3 1/4 × 4 3/4 in. (8.3 × 12.1 cm)
Spaulding Jones Family Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2012.065.0005
Spaulding Jones took these photos in the days following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. For more information see Spaulding Jones' oral history recorded on April 6, 1996 (1996.055.0007). - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits Manager
As the regional manager for Macmillan and Company publishers, Spaulding Jones had an office on the fourth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building in 1963. According to an oral history recorded in 1996, Mr. Jones believed that he encountered Lee Harvey Oswald on the morning of the assassination. Jones, who was with his two daughters at the Depository that day, recalled, "About the time I walked in and we were walking over to the elevator, another person walked in and took the elevator up with us. And he was just a person who worked in that Depository, and he did not go to the same floor that I did. He went to the third floor; I believe it was the third floor, but I'm not sure. I know that he went up with us on the elevator. And I just recognized him as one of the workers. Later on, I found out that that was Lee Harvey Oswald." Jones had intended to bring his 35mm camera with him to the office that day, but he accidentally left it at home. According to his oral history, he took his camera to the Depository the next morning, on Saturday, November 23, and went to the sixth floor to photograph the crime scenes. He recalled being challenged by law enforcement and was told that he was not allowed on the sixth floor. He recalled, "And I said, 'This is my building, and I can go anywhere that I want.' And they let me go." Based on the different handwritten dates on the backs of his photo prints and the presence and then absence of flowers in Dealey Plaza, Jones apparently ventured to the sixth floor with his camera on multiple occasions. His are the only known color photographs taken of the sniper's perch and rifle location during the weekend of the assassination. Mr. Jones passed away on July 2, 1997, at the age of 73. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
Related objects
Color photographic print of southeast sniper's perch corner of the sixth floor
11/23/1963
Photo of the sniper's perch in the Texas School Book Depository building
November 1963
Photo of 6th floor sniper's perch in the Texas School Book Depository building
November 1963
Image of Dallas Police Detective Robert L. Studebaker in sniper's perch
11/22/1963
