Phil Willis Slides

A World War II veteran who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, Phil Willis and his family were in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. Willis, an amateur photographer, became a key eyewitness to the assassination of President Kennedy and took 24 images before, during and after the tragic events. Following the assassination, Willis packaged his 12 best images as a commemorative set of 35mm color slides and sold them commercially. These 12 images were not all sequential, and they are often referred to by researchers as "Willis 1 through Willis 12." For example, the image known as "Willis 5" is actually the seventh in the overall slide sequence. Thus, some of the images from this collection have multiple numbers.

Several of Phil Willis's photographs were used in subsequent assassination investigations including the Warren Commission in 1964 and the House Select Committee on Assassination in 1976. In particular, "Willis 5," taken at the moment Willis heard the first shot fired, generated significant research interest over the years because it shows the presidential limousine and Secret Service follow-up car as well as the grassy knoll and an unidentified shape atop the concrete retaining wall near the stockade fence. Phil Willis gave a number of eyewitness interviews to authors and researchers over the years and became an assassination collector and enthusiast later in life. He passed away in 1995.