/internal/media/dispatcher/24653/fullPhoto of Dealey Plaza right after the assassination of President Kennedy11/22/19638 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm)Paper, PhotoTom C. Dillard Collection, The Dallas Morning News/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza1994.003.01150Black and white photograph showing a portion of Dealey Plaza shortly after the assassination of President Kennedy. The photograph was taken by amateur photographer Richard Bothun.
In the photograph Elm Street runs diagonally across the image; the photograph was taken from the grassy island between Elm Street and Main Street. On the opposite side of Elm Street from the photographer, the northern pergola appears in the background, and on the grass closer to the street are the Newman family and photographers Thomas Atkins and Tom Craven, in addition to a few other people. The Newman family is on the grass, the photographers are taking pictures of them. On the left side of the image, is a police officer, Bobby Hargis, on a motorcycle riding down Elm Street.
The photograph has a white border.Photographs6482925.400000000020.320000000022818Photograph (b&w)Black and white photographic print taken by amateur photographer Richard Bothun. Image shows Dealey Plaza right after the assassination of President Kennedy. The Newman family can be seen lying on the ground surrounded by photographers while on the left side of the image is police officer Bobby Hargis on a motorcycle riding down Elm Street.Dealey PlazaElm StreetPoliceReporterPhotographerMotorcyclesWitnessesPhotographsUmbrella ManCraven, TomAtkins, ThomasNewman, BillNewman, GayleNewman FamilyBothun, RichardHaygood, ClydeAltgens, James "Ike"Wiegman, DavidHargis, BobbyDallasRichard O. Bothun (1921-1981), a Minnesota native, was living in Dallas in 1963 and decided to photograph the Kennedy motorcade. This photograph was his fourth and final image taken on November 22, 1963, and it is the only one of his photos taken in Dealey Plaza after the assassination. His previous images showed the presidential limousine on Main and Houston Streets. This photograph, commonly known as Bothun #4, was taken about 90 seconds after the fatal shot. Dallas police motorcycle officer Bobby Hargis is seen on the left. (In an uncropped version of this photo, another motorcycle officer, likely Clyde Haygood, can be seen at far right.) Bill and Gayle Newman can be seen protecting their children on the north side of Elm Street. The cameramen surrounding the Newmans are, from left to right in this photo: AP photographer Jim Altgens, White House cinematographer Tom Atkins, NBC cameraman David Wiegman (on sidewalk) and CBS cameraman Tom Craven. Though not visible here, in an uncropped version of Bothun #4, the controversial "Umbrella Man" can be seen sitting on the north curb of Elm Street next to an unidentified eyewitness with a dark complexion.
This cropped version of Bothun #4 was first published in The Dallas Morning News on Saturday, November 23, 1963, after Bothun apparently took his self-developed photograph to the paper. (This print, among Tom Dillard's collection of prints and negatives, may be the one personally developed by Bothun on November 22, 1963.) The caption beneath this image read: "Suspense at scene of assassination. A mother and father shield their small children from bullets on Elm approaching the triple underpass Friday moments after President Kennedy and Governor John Connally was felled by rifle slugs near the Texas School Book Depository Building. Startled photographers race to the scene, as this photo by Richard O. Bothun vividly demonstrates, not knowing the President was fatally wounded." -- Stephen Fagin, Curator