Photograph of sixth floor crime scene at the Texas School Book Depository
Object number2002.002.0030
Date11/22/1963
ClassificationsPhotographs
Photographer
J. C. Day
Photographer
Robert L. Studebaker
ObjectPhotograph (b&w)
Credit LineDallas Police Department photograph, R. W. "Rusty" Livingston Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumPaper
Dimensions8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
DescriptionBlack and white photographic print taken by the Dallas police crime lab of boxes piled around the southeast corner window on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.
All crime scene photos taken inside the Texas School Book Depository that day were shot either by Detective Robert L. Studebaker or, in a few cases, the head of the Dallas Police Crime Scene Search Unit, Lt. J. C. "Carl" Day. R. W. "Rusty" Livingston, also an employee of the police crime lab, developed many of the images taken by Studebaker and Day. This collection of prints is a first-generation set of copies he kept for himself.
Curatorial CommentaryDid Lee Harvey Oswald construct this "sniper's nest" to prevent coworkers from seeing him waiting with his rifle, as some accounts claim? Investigators eventually learned that Depository employees earlier had been laying down a new plywood floor on the opposite side of the building and had moved many book boxes to the east side to get them out of the way. Still, the question remains unresolved. - Gary Mack, Curator
