/internal/media/dispatcher/24725/fullPhoto of Little Lynn and several others in a hallway during the Ruby trial02/17/1964 - 03/14/196410 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.3 cm)Paper, PhotoTom C. Dillard Collection, The Dallas Morning News/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza1994.003.01510Black and white photograph showing several people apparently standing in a hallway. The photograph was taken by Tom C. Dillard, The Dallas Morning News' chief photographer.
In the photograph, there are three people standing in a hallway in addition to a fourth man who is a Dallas County Sheriff's deputy (judging from his uniform, seen in earlier photographs 1994.003.0144 and .0145). Karen Lynn Bennett also known as "Little Lynn" stands on the left side of the image. She wears a dark coat with a fur collar that is turned up to cover the lower half of her face. Her right arm is bent and she holds a cigarette in her right hand up beside her mouth. She is wearing sunglasses with light colored frames.
There is another woman in the middle of the image; her head is bent down, and she is wearing a light colored dress that has a knot tied in front. Karen Bennett is standing between her and the photographer. She is facing the opposite direction as Bennett with her back to the sheriff's deputy.
On the right side of the image is a man's back; he was wearing a suit jacket with plaid stripes. The Dallas County Sheriff's deputy is in the upper right corner. He is facing the camera.
The photograph has a white border.
On the back, in the lower right corner two purple rubber stamps have been applied. One reads, "PHOTO BY TOM C. DILLARD." The second has a rectangular border in which is printed, "DALLAS MORNING NEWS, JUL 14, NEWS STAFF PHOTO." The year in the stamp's date did not print. July 14, 1964 was a day when other photographs in the collection were printed, so this may be the date for this photograph.Photographs6407620.320000000025.400000000022854Photograph (b&w)Black and white photographic print by Dallas Morning News chief photographer Tom Dillard. The image shows Carousel Club exotic dancer Karen Lynn Bennett, aka "Little Lynn," in a fur collared coat standing with several other people in a hallway of the Dallas County Criminal Courts Building during the Jack Ruby trial between February 17, 1964 and March 14, 1964 in Dallas, Texas.PhotographsJack Ruby trialWitnessesDillard, Tom C.Bennett, Karen LynnLittle LynnThe Dallas Morning NewsDallas County Sheriff's DepartmentDallas County Criminal Courts BuildingDallasKaren Lynn Bennett Carlin, who performed as "Little Lynn" at Jack Ruby's Carousel Club, had a difficult life immediately following the assassination. In a 1964 interview, she expressed that she had been forced to change addresses multiple times that year, in part because she was tired of harassment but also because her landlords allegedly feared getting mixed up in the assassination or Jack Ruby controversy. She made her final appearance in burlesque in 1964, performing at the Skyliner Ballroom, where she was promptly arrested by Fort Worth police officers for indecent exposure. After paying a fine, she dropped out of public life. It was reported that she died from a gunshot wound in Houston later that year. However, author and researcher J. Gary Shaw spoke to a woman claiming to be Carlin in 1992. Years later, singer Beverly Oliver Massagee (a controversial self-identified assassination eyewitness) told Shaw that Carlin died in 2010 in Tennesse. Shaw apparently confirmed this after speaking with Carlin's sister. - Stephen Fagin, Curator