/internal/media/dispatcher/79100/fullWFAA-TV tape: "Pres. Kennedy Master PK-5"11/22/196313 1/4 × 13 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (33.7 × 33.7 × 6.4 cm)
Duration: 67 MinutesMagnetic tape; Video, Quadruplex, 2"WFAA-TV Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza1998.010.000502" video reel, approx 1:07:37
2" video reel with original black and white coverage by Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA-TV. The reel contains news footage and coverage from Dallas, New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Coverage begins at ABC Network’s studio in New York with broadcaster Don Goddard and former White House Press Secretary (1953-1961) and Vice President of the ABC Television Network James Hagerty discussing typical procedures of U.S. Secret Service agents. Coverage transitions to Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA-TV’s studio with program director Jay Watson and broadcaster Bob Walker discussing the shots that allegedly came from the Texas School Book Depository and the weapon possibly being a rifle. A 16mm black and white film is shown of journalist Bill Lord interviewing Dallas Police Inspector J. H. Sawyer outside of the Depository building. Sawyer states that empty rifle shells were found in the building and that witnesses saw a man with a rifle. Coverage returns to the WFAA-TV studio where Jay Watson reports that a man was arrested in Fort Worth for the shooting of a police officer. Film is then shown of the Kennedys' arrival at Dallas Love Field earlier that day. Watson interviews eyewitness Abraham Zapruder, who describes what he saw and heard in Dealey Plaza. After Zapruder’s interview, footage is shown of a hearse leaving Parkland, taking the body of the President to Dallas Love Field. A photograph of the outside of the Depository building is displayed on screen, showing the southeast corner window on the sixth floor; Bob Walker reports that is from where the shots were allegedly fired. Coverage then switches back to ABC’s studio in New York where Don Goddard and James Hagerty report that a rifle has been found in the Texas School Book Depository building and a man named Lee Oswald has been arrested in Dallas, suspected of killing a police officer. Footage from Times Square in New York City is shown with crowds reacting to the news of the shooting of the President, followed by reports by ABC's international journalist Lu Cioffi of civilian reactions in France to the assassination. Coverage switches back to ABC’s studio in New York where Goddard reports that Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is to be sworn in as President before leaving for Washington, D.C. At WFAA-TV in Dallas, 16mm black and white film is shown of the presidential motorcade on Main Street in downtown Dallas. This footage is followed by scenes from Dealey Plaza, with police activity outside of the Texas School Book Depository. Walker reports that a weapon has been found on the sixth floor of the Depository building. In the studio, a drawing is displayed outlining the presidential parade route through Dealey Plaza. Jay Watson interviews WFAA-TV cameraman Ron Reiland who was at the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff when suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of a police officer. Jay Watson cuts in to announce that Lyndon B. Johnson was officially sworn in as President of the United States at Dallas Love Field. Coverage switches to ABC’s New York Studio which broadcasts various on-the-street interviews with people in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Chicago. Back in Dallas at WFAA-TV, Ron Reiland narrates a film taken in Oak Cliff of police escorting the suspect out of the Texas Theatre. Jay Watson reports that the man in custody is suspected of killing police officer J.D. Tipton (his name is later corrected as J.D. Tippit). ABC broadcaster Bob Young reports from New York that Wall Street stopped trading and that the President’s remains will be brought to Washington, D.C. that evening. The tape ends with footage of broadcaster Edward P. Morgan in Washington, D.C. who discusses the Kennedy presidency and Lyndon B. Johnson’s future.
Footage was recorded at WFAA-TV in Dallas and ABC News in New York City, Chicago and Washington D.C. on November 22, 1963. The tape is approximately one hour and seven minutes long.
The WFAA-TV Kennedy assassination tapes were donated to the Museum in 1998. This tape is labeled "Pres. Kennedy Master PK-5"; it is one of 31 similar tapes included in the donation. This particular tape, in addition to the interview with Abraham Zapruder, includes news coverage and footage of the public reactions to the President's assassination and coverage of Oswald's arrest as well as the swearing in of President Johnson aboard Air Force One.
The video attached to this record is an excerpt. The entire video is available in our Reading Room to on-site researchers or by submitting a Rights & Reproductions Request Form.Videos7335133.65500000000E-1033.65500000000E-1018468Video, 2"6.35000000000E-102" video reel with original black and white coverage by Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA-TV. The reel contains news footage and coverage from Dallas, New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Coverage begins at ABC Network’s studio in New York with broadcaster Don Goddard and former White House Press Secretary (1953-1961) and Vice President of the ABC Television Network James Hagerty discussing typical procedures of U.S. Secret Service agents. Coverage transitions to Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA-TV’s studio with program director Jay Watson and broadcaster Bob Walker discussing the shots that allegedly came from the Texas School Book Depository and the weapon possibly being a rifle. A 16mm black and white film is shown of journalist Bill Lord interviewing Dallas Police Inspector J. H. Sawyer outside of the Depository building. Sawyer states that empty rifle shells were found in the building and that witnesses saw a man with a rifle. Coverage returns to the WFAA-TV studio where Jay Watson reports that a man was arrested in Fort Worth for the shooting of a police officer. Film is then shown of the Kennedys' arrival at Dallas Love Field earlier that day. Watson interviews eyewitness Abraham Zapruder, who describes what he saw and heard in Dealey Plaza. After Zapruder’s interview, footage is shown of a hearse leaving Parkland, taking the body of the President to Dallas Love Field. A photograph of the outside of the Depository building is displayed on screen, showing the southeast corner window on the sixth floor; Bob Walker reports that is from where the shots were allegedly fired. Coverage then switches back to ABC’s studio in New York where Don Goddard and James Hagerty report that a rifle has been found in the Texas School Book Depository building and a man named Lee Oswald has been arrested in Dallas, suspected of killing a police officer. Footage from Times Square in New York City is shown with crowds reacting to the news of the shooting of the President, followed by reports by ABC's international journalist Lu Cioffi of civilian reactions in France to the assassination. Coverage switches back to ABC’s studio in New York where Goddard reports that Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is to be sworn in as President before leaving for Washington, D.C. At WFAA-TV in Dallas, 16mm black and white film is shown of the presidential motorcade on Main Street in downtown Dallas. This footage is followed by scenes from Dealey Plaza, with police activity outside of the Texas School Book Depository. Walker reports that a weapon has been found on the sixth floor of the Depository building. In the studio, a drawing is displayed outlining the presidential parade route through Dealey Plaza. Jay Watson interviews WFAA-TV cameraman Ron Reiland who was at the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff when suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of a police officer. Jay Watson cuts in to announce that Lyndon B. Johnson was officially sworn in as President of the United States at Dallas Love Field. Coverage switches to ABC’s New York Studio which broadcasts various on-the-street interviews with people in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Chicago. Back in Dallas at WFAA-TV, Ron Reiland narrates a film taken in Oak Cliff of police escorting the suspect out of the Texas Theatre. Jay Watson reports that the man in custody is suspected of killing police officer J.D. Tipton (his name is later corrected as J.D. Tippit). ABC broadcaster Bob Young reports from New York that Wall Street stopped trading and that the President’s remains will be brought to Washington, D.C. that evening. The tape ends with footage of broadcaster Edward P. Morgan in Washington, D.C. who discusses the Kennedy presidency and Lyndon B. Johnson’s future.
Footage was recorded at WFAA-TV in Dallas and ABC News in New York City, Chicago and Washington D.C. on November 22, 1963. The tape is approximately one hour and seven minutes long.Zapruder filmVideoOath of officeArrestNational responseFirearmsPoliceMannlicher-CarcanoRiflesAssassinationInterviewsMotorcadeBroadcast journalismTelevisionTV coverageBulletinWoundsCrowdsFilmsHome movieOak CliffLive broadcastZapruder, AbrahamOswald, Lee HarveyJohnson, Lyndon B.Kennedy, John F.Connally, JohnWalker, BobWatson, JayReiland, RonMorgan, Edward P.Decker, BillSawyer, J. H.Gaulle, Charles deHumphrey, HubertEisenhower, Dwight D.Kennedy, Robert F.Kennedy, EdwardKennedy FamilyBergman, JulesShriver, Eunice KennedyTippit, J.D.Young, Bob F.Morgan, Edward P.Texas School Book DepositoryTexas TheatreParkland HospitalSecret ServiceLove FieldABCWFAA-TVDallas Police DepartmentDallasNew YorkChicagoWashington, D.C.FranceAs seen on this WFAA-TV videotape, the short interview with Abraham Zapruder, broadcast nationwide on ABC on the afternoon of Friday, November 22, 1963, is today considered the most famous and oft-seen interview ever recorded with the late Mr. Zapruder, who very seldom spoke on record about the Kennedy assassination prior to his death in 1970 at the age of 65. However, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is honored to have another interview with Abraham Zapruder in its Collection. In November 1966, just prior to the third anniversary of the assassination, Zapruder gave a rare radio interview to Marvin Scott of the Mutual Broadcasting System. In 2003, Mr. Scott donated the original audio tape of this interview to the Museum (2003.073.0001). It may be heard in full here: Audio cassette of 1966 interviews conducted by Marvin Scott in Dallas – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Twenty years after his donation, Mr. Scott returned to the Museum and discussed this historic interview in a 2023 Living History program: Living History with Marvin Scott. -- Stephen Fagin, CuratorAt the time of the Kennedy assassination in 1963, the WFAA Communications Center Studios was located at the corner of Young and Record Streets in downtown Dallas, approximately two blocks north of Dealey Plaza. As a result of their proximity, WFAA-TV/Channel 8 was the first local television station to break into programming with news of the shooting on November 22, 1963. Program director Jay Watson, himself an eyewitness to the assassination, interrupted the Julie Bennell Show, a local lifestyle and fashion program, approximately fifteen minutes after shots were fired in Dealey Plaza. In another first, Watson was the first to interview assassination eyewitnesses on the air after collecting the stunned Newman family in the plaza and rushing them to WFAA studios. The coverage that followed represents one of the most substantial archives of Kennedy assassination broadcast news footage in existence.
Amazingly, this historic news footage was nearly lost forever in the early 1980s. During that era, it was common for television stations to dispose of or recycle outdated broadcast tapes in order to save space and reduce costs. Prior to the age of widespread digital archiving, expensive videotapes were frequently erased and reused. Nearly twenty years after the assassination, a young WFAA-TV employee named John Sparks noticed all of the station's Kennedy tapes were boxed up and marked for disposal. Sparks, who had been part of the high school band that performed for President and Mrs. Kennedy in Fort Worth that fateful date, instantly recognized the historic significance of the material, and he singlehandedly rescued the tapes from destruction. The full WFAA-TV archive of Kennedy assassination news coverage was later donated to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in 1998. Hear the inside story about how John Sparks saved this historic broadcast news footage in this 2025 Living History conversation: Living History from Fort Worth, November 22, 1963. - Stephen Fagin, CuratorThe 8mm home movie taken by Abraham Zapruder, and briefly mentioned during his interview, may be accessed via the Museum's online Collections database here: Abraham Zapruder film – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. - Riley Harris, Collections Cataloger The pre-recorded coverage shown on this tape of the Kennedys' arrival at Dallas Love Field (seen at 13:29-18:21) may be seen in full on WFAA-TV tape PK-2 (1998.010.0002) via the Museum's online collections database here: WFAA-TV tape: "Pres. Kennedy Master PK-2 / Arrival at Love Field" – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.
More 2" videotapes from the Museum's WFAA-TV Collection may be viewed via the Museum's online collection database here: Results – Advanced Search Objects – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza - Riley Harris, Collections CatalogerIn 1963, a major news event like a presidential visit generated a significant amount of local coverage by newspaper, radio and television outlets. Large locally-broadcast events during President Kennedy's trip to Texas, such as the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast and the arrival of the Kennedys at Dallas Love Field, were often managed by cooperative pool coverage among local TV stations. In those instances, one outlet--such as ABC affiliate WFAA-TV at Love Field and CBS affiliate KRLD-TV at the Dallas Trade Mart luncheon--set up cameras to capture a pool feed that would be distributed to other local television stations for broadcast. This allowed for immediate coverage of an evolving news story in a practical and efficient manner, considering the transportation and setup logistics for bulky equipment and mobile news cruisers. - Stephen Fagin, CuratorThe individual wearing eyeglasses and a dark suit and trench coat, seen on this WFAA-TV tape from approximately 05:00 to 06:00 and again from 36:02 to 36:12, is Larry Florer, who appears in several Dallas Times Herald photographs taken on the afternoon of the assassination: Results – Advanced Search Objects – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Floorer had been briefly taken into custody by Dallas law enforcement after an employee of the Texas School Book Depository pointed him out as a stranger inside the building following the assassination.
According to his statement to the Dallas County Sheriff's Department that afternoon (likely being given at the 05:00 mark on this WFAA-TV footage), Floorer saw the presidential motorcade on Main Street and then went to lunch with a friend. Upon hearing about the shooting in Dealey Plaza, Floorer walked to the area and entered the Depository, allegedly in search of a telephone. Floorer made his way to the third floor before an employee informed him that he could not use the phone. As he exited the building, he was taken into custody by two officers. In addition to this videotape, which shows Florer being taken into custody and walking to the sheriff's office from 36:02 to 36:12, this specific moment can best be seen in a Dallas Times Herald photo taken by William Allen (Image of witness Larry Florer with Dallas Police officers – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. - Stephen Fagin, Curator Earl James "Jay" Watson, Jr. (1925-2001) went to work at WFAA-TV in the early 1950s and swiftly rose to program director in 1953. Although largely a behind-the-scenes supervisor, he became the Dallas face of ABC television coverage of the Kennedy assassination on November 22, 1963. His initial break-in and first televised interviews with assassination eyewitnesses Bill and Gayle Newman and Abraham Zapruder remain some of the most famous local television coverage from the entire assassination weekend. Watson left WFAA-TV in 1966 and eventually retired to Arizona. He passed away at the age of 75 on April 19, 2001. - Stephen Fagin, Curator At the 35:26 mark on this videotape, Dallas Times Herald reporter Darwin Payne can be seen, wearing a dark suit and carrying his reporter's notebook, outside the Texas School Book Depository. Payne was assigned to the Times Herald rewrite desk for the president's visit, though after the assassination, he quickly found himself in the middle of the action. Payne was dispatched to Dealey Plaza where he was the first journalist to interview Abraham Zapruder (prior to Zapruder's brief appearance on WFAA-TV later in the afternoon), and Payne then toured the sixth floor crime scene. Payne can be seen in multiple Dallas Times Herald photographs taken outside of the Depository, including this one where he is speaking with Dallas police detective Marvin Johnson as evidence is being removed from the building: Image of Dallas Police detectives outside of the Texas School Book Depository – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. - Stephen Fagin, Curator The ABC News broadcaster seen at 38:56 is the late Edward Paddock Morgan (1910-1993), a longtime newspaper, radio and television journalist who worked at several networks including ABC, CBS and PBS. Notably, for ABC Radio, Morgan reported on the breaking news of the sinking of the SS Andrea Doria, after its collision with the MS Stockholm on July 25, 1956. Morgan maintained his composure during the broadcast and did not tell listeners that his teenage daughter was among the passengers aboard the Andrea Doria. Although initially believed to have been killed, his daughter, Linda Morgan, was discovered alive the following day. - Stephen Fagin, Curator