Autopsy report for Lee Harvey Oswald by the Dallas County Medical Examiner

Object number1994.001.0002.0049

Date11/24/1963

ClassificationsDocuments

Author Earl F. Rose

ObjectDocument

Credit LineParkland Hospital Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumPaper

Dimensions11 × 8 1/2 in. (27.9 × 21.6 cm)

Terms

Collections

DescriptionTyped autopsy report for Lee Harvey Oswald by the Dallas County Medical Examiner at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, dated Sunday, November 24, 1963. The 9-page report was written by Earl F. Rose, M.D., in the morgue at Parkland. Oswald had been admitted to Parkland after Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot the accussed assassin during a jail transfer. Despite doctors' attempts to save him, Oswald died at 1:07 p.m. that afternoon. Dr. Rose describes his examination of every section of the body in order to document the cause of death for Oswald. The CAUSE OF DEATH reads, "Hemorrhage, secondary to gunshot wound to the chest." The first seven pages are a report of the detailed examination by the medical examiner. The eighth page is the "Toxicological Report," and the ninth is a "Blood Alcohol Report." All reports are signed.

Curatorial Commentary

The late Dr. Earl F. Rose recorded an oral history with the Museum in 2005 and discussed the autopsies he performed on Officer J.D. Tippit and Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963 and on Jack Ruby in 1967. He also would have performed President Kennedy's autopsy on November 22 had Secret Service agents not rushed Kennedy's remains back to Air Force One at the behest of President Johnson. Although many eyewitnesses report that Dr. Rose tried to physically prevent the body of the president from leaving Parkland, in his oral history, Rose says that that was not the case. (Please see 2005.001.0035.) Dr. Rose passed away on May 1, 2012. - Stephen Fagin, Curator