/internal/media/dispatcher/35299/fullColor photo of the view of Dealey Plaza from the sixth floor corner window11/26/1963 - 11/27/19633 1/4 × 4 3/4 in. (8.3 × 12.1 cm)PaperSpaulding Jones Family Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza2012.065.00080One color photographic print on Kodak paper taken of one of the reflecting pools in Dealey Plaza from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building on the afternoon of November 26 or 27, 1963. This image shows a view of the southwest corner of Houston and Elm Streets, where one of the reflecting pools is on the east side of Dealey Plaza, from inside a window. White and black barricades are set up along the corner. A white border surrounds the entire image. Handwriting in blue ink and pencil is on the back of this photo. The watermark brand reads, "A KODAK PAPER." A marked out number is in the top right corner.
The handwriting on the back of the photograph reads:
"8
Next week (?)"
Spaulding Jones had an office inside the Texas School Book Depository building in 1963 and believed he was on the elevator with Lee Harvey Oswald the morning of the assassination. Mr. Jones took these photos the week after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. For more information see Spaulding Jones' oral history, taken April 6, 1995 (1996.055.0007).Photographs6480912.06502413008.255016510039851Photograph (color)0E-10Color photographic print on Kodak paper taken by amateur photographer Spaulding Jones of Dealey Plaza from the sixth floor southeast corner window of the Texas School Book Depository building on the afternoon of either November 26 or November 27, 1963. The image shows a view of the reflecting pool of Dealey Plaza and the corner of Elm Street and Houston Street. A police barricade can be seen along the curb of Elm Street to control pedestrian traffic in the area.PhotographsWindowsElm StreetHouston StreetSniper's perchDealey PlazaJones, SpauldingTexas School Book DepositoryDallasSpaulding Jones took these photos in the days following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. For more information see Spaulding Jones' oral history recorded on April 6, 1996 (1996.055.0007). - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits ManagerAs the regional manager for Macmillan and Company publishers, Spaulding Jones had an office on the fourth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building in 1963. According to an oral history recorded in 1996, Mr. Jones believed that he encountered Lee Harvey Oswald on the morning of the assassination. Jones, who was with his two daughters at the Depository that day, recalled, "About the time I walked in and we were walking over to the elevator, another person walked in and took the elevator up with us. And he was just a person who worked in that Depository, and he did not go to the same floor that I did. He went to the third floor; I believe it was the third floor, but I'm not sure. I know that he went up with us on the elevator. And I just recognized him as one of the workers. Later on, I found out that that was Lee Harvey Oswald."
Jones had intended to bring his 35mm camera with him to the office that day, but he accidentally left it at home. According to his oral history, he took his camera to the Depository the next morning, on Saturday, November 23, and went to the sixth floor to photograph the crime scenes. He recalled being challenged by law enforcement and was told that he was not allowed on the sixth floor. He recalled, "And I said, 'This is my building, and I can go anywhere that I want.' And they let me go." Based on the different handwritten dates on the backs of his photo prints and the presence and then absence of flowers in Dealey Plaza, Jones apparently ventured to the sixth floor with his camera on multiple occasions. His are the only known color photographs taken of the sniper's perch and rifle location during the weekend of the assassination.
Mr. Jones passed away on July 2, 1997, at the age of 73. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator