Spaulding Jones Oral History

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 this 1996 oral history, 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 this 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