Pat Sanders Oral History

Herbert and Pat Sanders planned a full day in downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963. After Pat recorded a home movie of the Kennedy motorcade on Main Street, the couple intended to catch a screening of the latest John Wayne film, McLintock!, at the Majestic Theatre on Elm Street. After the assassination took place, they decided to skip the movie and go straight home. The Sanders donated their 8mm home movie to the Museum in 1995. - Stephen Fagin, Associate Curator

The Sanders' son, Kim, was a Dallas Police detective when he donated his mother’s film to the Museum in 1995. Some of Pat Sanders' footage of the Kennedy limousine was obscured by her left hand waving at the President and First Lady. She was holding the camera with her right hand at the time and, under the circumstances, her film is remarkably steady. - Gary Mack, Curator

Pat Sanders’ film also captured something no other known photographer did: Rubin “Honest Joe” Goldstein.  Honest Joe was a well-known Dallas pawnshop broker in the east Dallas area known as Deep Ellum, and he had a knack for publicity.  He drove up and down Main Street ahead of the Kennedy motorcade in a blue-over-white 1957 Edsel sedan with “Honest Joe’s Pawn Shop” and “Loan Ranger” on the sides and “JFK” written on cardboard signs stuck on the back seat windows. 

Years later, phony conspiracy stories included references to Honest Joe as being somehow connected to JFK’s death.  In fact, Honest Joe had left the motorcade route and was parked blocks away from Dealey Plaza when the shots were fired. - Gary Mack, Curator