Nearly 61 years ago, Dale Carpenter Sr. showed up on Lemmon Avenue in Dallas, hoping to film John F. Kennedy as his motorcade passed.
But the president’s car had already gone by, and he recorded only some of the procession, including the back of a car carrying Lyndon Johnson and the side of the White House press bus.
So Mr. Carpenter, a businessman from Texas, rushed to Stemmons Freeway, several miles farther along the motorcade route, to try again.
There, just moments after Kennedy had been shot, he captured an urgent and chaotic scene.
The president’s speeding convertible.
A Secret Service agent in a dark suit sprawled on the back.
Jacqueline Kennedy, in her pink Chanel outfit, little more than a blur.
For decades Mr. Carpenter’s 8-millimeter snippets of what transpired in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, have been a family heirloom.
Later this month, the Kennedy footage is to be put up for sale in Boston by RR Auction, the latest in a line of assassination-related images to surface publicly after decades in comparative obscurity.
The auction house says it is the only known film of the president’s car on the freeway as it sped from Dealey Plaza, the site of the shooting, to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1 p.m.
Dale Carpenter Sr. was born approximately sixty-one years ago. appeared in Dallas on Lemmon Avenue with the intention of filming John F. Kennedy as his limousine drove by. Only a portion of the procession was captured by him, including the side of the White House press bus and the rear of a car transporting Lyndon Johnson. However, the president’s car had already passed.
In order to give it another shot, Mr. Carpenter, a Texas businessman, hurried to Stemmons Freeway, which was a few miles further along the motorcade route.
There, moments after Kennedy was shot, he caught a tense and disorganized scene. The president’s convertible was moving quickly. A dark-suited Secret Service agent lay sprawled on his back. With her pink Chanel dress on, Jacqueline Kennedy appeared almost completely blurry.
Mr. Carpenter’s 8-millimeter clips of what happened in Dallas on November 8th have been around for decades. have been passed down through the family since 22. His twin boys’ birthday party was featured on the reel, which was eventually given to his wife Mabel, daughter Diana, and grandson James Gates after he passed away in 1991 at the age of 77.
The Kennedy footage, the most recent in a string of assassination-related photos to come to light after decades of relative obscurity, will be up for auction in Boston later this month by RR Auction. The president’s car is seen speeding on the freeway in this film, according to the auction house, as it leaves Dealey Plaza, the scene of the shooting, and heads to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Kennedy was declared dead at 1 p.m. me.
