Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Photograph of the entrance to the Texas School Book Depository building
Photograph of the entrance to the Texas School Book Depository building

Photograph of the entrance to the Texas School Book Depository building

Object number2003.006.0033
DateNovember 1963
ClassificationsPhotographs
Creator Federal Bureau of Investigation
ObjectPhotograph (b&w)
Credit LineNat Pinkston Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumPaper
Dimensions3 1/2 x 5 in. (8.9 x 12.7 cm)
Collections
DescriptionBlack and white photographic print of the main entrance of the Texas School Book Depository building. 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 the steps leading up to the glass doors with faux-columns on each side. A United States mail box is on the sidewalk on the right side of the stairwell. A portion of the decorative breeze block wall is also visible along the right of the image.
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

Twin radiators (visible here) were located just inside 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