/internal/media/dispatcher/26300/fullImage of Helen Markham at Dallas Police Department Headquarters11/22/19632 3/16 × 2 3/16 in. (5.6 × 5.6 cm)FilmTom C. Dillard Collection, The Dallas Morning News/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza1994.003.0029.00010Black and white 120 film negative showing an image of Helen Markham at Dallas Police Headquarters on November 22, 1963. The image was taken by a photographer from The Dallas Morning News.
In the photograph, Markham is leaning against a wall, her left hand held to the side of her head. She is near the center of the image. She is wearing a white uniform with a dark name tag that reads, "HELEN." She holds her right arm across her abdomen and her purse hangs from her forearm.
Standing in front of Markham is a Dallas Police officer; he appears on the right side of the image and is turned toward the camera. He looks directly at the camera and his mouth is slightly open. His expression is not welcoming and he holds a lit cigarette in his right hand.
The wall behind Markham has a striped, wood-grain pattern on it; there is a metal hand rail running across the wall and behind Markham.
The Dallas Morning News photographers recounted where they were throughout the day on November 22, 1963, and some also related their locations in the following days and months when they were photographing events related to the assassination (such as Lee Harvey Oswald’s transfer or the Jack Ruby Trial). Their descriptions can be found in the Belo Collection at SMU; The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza's reading room has copies of these accounts available upon request. In cases where the specific photographer who took an image is not known, the potential photographers can be narrowed down to those who said they were at the image’s location. For this image, Jack Beers, Tom Dillard and Bill Winfrey are the photographers who were present when the photograph was taken.Photographs655445.60000000005.600000000011922Negative (b&w)0E-10Original black and white negative by a Dallas Morning News photographer. The image shows Helen Markham, who was a witness to the shooting of Officer J. D. Tippit, at Dallas police headquarters on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. An unknown police officer is turned towards the camera.PoliceWitnessesPhotographsBeers, JackDillard, Tom C.Winfrey, BillMarkham, HelenThe Dallas Morning NewsDallas Police HeadquartersDallas Municipal BuildingDallas Police DepartmentDallasIt is not clear which Dallas Morning News photographer took this image. Jack Beers, Tom Dillard and Bill Winfrey are the photographers who were present when the photograph was taken. It could have been any of them. - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits ManagerDespite being a key witness to the shooting of Officer J.D. Tippit, who later identified Lee Harvey Oswald in a police lineup, Helen Markham remains a problematic eyewitness for many researchers. Errors in her testimony include her memory of speaking with Officer Tippit, despite the fact that Tippit likely died instantly and no other bystanders recalled any signs of life, and her claim that she was on her own with the slain officer for approximately twenty minutes even though an ambulance arrived within ten minutes of the shooting and other witnesses were almost immediately with her at the scene. Attorney Mark Lane, who later authored Rush to Judgment (1966), testified to the Warren Commission in 1964 that he had interviewed Mrs. Markham and that she described the Tippit shooter as short and slighty hefty with somewhat bushy hair. After Mrs. Markham denied speaking to Mark Lane, Lane turned over to the Warren Commission an audio tape of his conversation with Mrs. Markham. Researchers point out that Mrs. Markham only identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the shooter after she had seen his photograph on television. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator