George Christian film

Object number2008.016.0001

Date11/25/1963

ClassificationsFilms

Photographer Dr. George Christian

ObjectFilm, 8mm

Credit LineGeorge and Nancy Christian Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumFilm

DimensionsGauge: 8mm; Camera Speed: 18 fps

Terms

Collections

DescriptionOriginal 8mm color home movie of President Kennedy's funeral procession in Washington, D. C. shot by Dr. George Christian. The movie shows the White House and Treasury Department buildings on November 25, 1963, the day of President Kennedy's funeral. Then, on Pennsylvania Avenue near what is now Freedom Park, Christian caught the funeral cortege as it proceeded to Arlington National Cemetery. Near the front of the funeral cortege, behind the president's casket, came the symbolic "riderless horse," Black Jack, followed by members of the Kennedy family in cars. Similar scenes appeared on live TV, but only as black and white images.

Curatorial Commentary

Dr. George Christian was a private assigned to US Army Intelligence at the Pentagon in 1963. He recorded an oral history with The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on October 28, 2008. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Curatorial Commentary

Part of this film was incorporated into the video content of the Museum's temporary exhibit, "Mourning a President," about the funeral and mourning rites for President John F. Kennedy. The exhibit was open on the Museum's seventh floor from November 17, 2017 to February 19, 2018. -- Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections