Photo of the entrance to the Texas School Book Depository building

Object number2003.006.0022

DateNovember 1963

ClassificationsPhotographs

Creator Federal Bureau of Investigation

ObjectPhotograph (b&w)

Credit LineNat Pinkston Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumPaper

Dimensions4 x 5 in. (10.2 x 12.7 cm)

Terms

Collections

DescriptionBlack and white photographic print of the entrance to the Texas School Book Depository building from inside the lobby. The photo was taken in November 1963 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as evidence in the days following the assassination of President Kennedy. The photograph shows a glass door and wall in the center with cars, Elm Street and Dealey Plaza visible outside. There is a radiator and a framed photograph on the wall to the right of the door. Part of a cigarette machine and a white wall are in the left foreground.

Curatorial Commentary

This FBI photographic print was in the personal collection of retired agent Nat A. Pinkston (1915-2011). Pinkston was a Dallas attorney prior to joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He retired from the Dallas FBI office in 1967 after twenty-eight years of service. Pinkston was involved in the local assassination investigation, notably tracing ownership of the Mannlicher-Carcano found in the Depository to employee Lee Harvey Oswald. He was also dispatched to the Texas School Book Depository on December 2, 1963, after Lee Harvey Oswald's clipboard was discovered in the northwest corner of the sixth floor near where the rifle had been found shortly after the assassination. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator

Curatorial Commentary

Twin radiators were located on either side of the main entrance to the Texas School Book Depository in 1963. One original radiator, possibly one of these from the first floor, was saved during Dallas County renovations in the late 1970s and is today part of the Museum's Collection.

Due to persistent tourist interest in the building, a large sign was put in this doorway shortly after the assassination. It read: "No Admittance Except on Official Business." According to Depository employees, this front door was also locked sometime after the assassination to prevent curiosity seekers from entering the building. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator