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Photograph of Elm Street from the southeast corner window
Photograph of Elm Street from the southeast corner window

Photograph of Elm Street from the southeast corner window

Object number2002.002.0047
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 the view of Elm Street and Dealey Plaza from the southeast corner window "sniper's perch" 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 Commentary
This photograph shows the boxes in the sniper's perch not as they were found but after they were rearranged by investigators.  Dallas Police photographed the area, then moved the boxes while looking for fingerprints; later, they returned the boxes but got their positions wrong.  Although the correct images were identified for Warren Commission investigators, the inaccurate pictures have led to public confusion about the scene. - Gary Mack, Curator