The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

Artist Abraham Zapruder (American, born in Ukraine, 1905–1970)

DateNovember 22, 1963

Mediumfour gelatin silver prints from 8mm film, frames 222, 225, 230, and 234

DimensionsFrame 222 sheet: 10.9 × 13.5 cm (4 5/16 × 5 5/16 in.)
Frame 225 sheet: 10.5 × 13.7 cm (4 1/8 × 5 3/8 in.)
Frame 230 sheet: 10.5 × 13.7 cm (4 1/8 × 5 3/8 in.)
Frame 234 sheet: 10.9 × 13.5 cm (4 5/16 × 5 5/16 in.)

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineGift of Howard G. Davis, III A.K.A. David Davis

Object number2014.1216

Label TextOn a sunny afternoon on November 22, 1963, bystander Abraham Zapruder inadvertently captured the most complete real-time record of President Kennedy’s assassination. His 26.6-second home movie of Kennedy’s motorcade driving past Dealey Plaza may be the most studied fragment of film in history. In fact, popular culture has scrutinized the film so thoroughly it is now discussed in terms of its individual frames. As a result, scholars and amateur historians alike engage with the film in its purest form, as a series of still photographs. ******** A Dallas manufacturer of women’s clothing, Abraham Zapruder was a home movie buff. He was also an admirer of John F. Kennedy, so when the president visited Dallas on November 22, 1963, he took his 8 mm Bell & Howell Zoomatic camera to work to record the visit. Thus, inadvertently, Zapruder captured the most important images of the president’s assassination. Beginning when the president’s limousine turned the corner into Dealy Plaza, 486 frames in 26.6 seconds provide the most vivid record of the event.

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