Babushka Lady

Last updated

The Babushka Lady is an unidentified woman present during the 1963 assassination of US President John F. Kennedy who might have photographed or filmed the events that occurred in Dallas's Dealey Plaza at the time President John F. Kennedy was shot. Her nickname arose from the headscarf she wore, which was similar to scarves worn by elderly Russian women (бабушка  – babushka – literally means "grandmother" or "old woman" in Russian).

Contents

The Babushka Lady was seen to be holding a camera by eyewitnesses and was also seen in film accounts of the assassination. [1] [2] She was observed standing on the grass between Elm and Main streets, standing amongst onlookers in front of the Dallas County Building, and is visible in the Zapruder film as well as in the films of Orville Nix, [3] Marie Muchmore, and Mark Bell [4] (44 minutes and 47 seconds into the Bell film: even though the shooting had already taken place and most of her surrounding witnesses took cover, she can be seen still standing with the camera at her face). After the shooting, she crossed Elm Street and joined the crowd that went up the grassy knoll. She is last seen in photographs walking east on Elm Street. Neither she, nor the film she may have taken, have ever been positively identified. Her first appearance on film chronologically is on the sidewalk in front of the Dallas County Building - visible in an image as being on JFK's right. She would have crossed Houston Street and onto Dealey Plaza in order to be visible in the Dealey Plaza images. This may imply that the images show two different women of similar appearance; however, it is plausible that once the motorcade passed by she was able to cross the street to catch a second motorcade drive past on Dealey Plaza where she would be on JFK's left.

Beverly Oliver's claim

In 1970, a woman named Beverly Oliver told conspiracy researcher Gary Shaw at a church revival meeting in Joshua, Texas, that she was the Babushka Lady. [5] Oliver stated that she filmed the assassination with a Super 8 film Yashica and that she turned the undeveloped film over to two men who identified themselves to her as FBI agents. [5] According to Oliver, she obtained no receipt from the men, who told her that they would return the film to her within ten days. She did not follow up with an inquiry. [5] She reiterated her claims in the 1988 documentary The Men Who Killed Kennedy . [5] According to Vincent Bugliosi, Oliver "has never proved to most people's satisfaction that she was in Dealey Plaza that day." [5] Confronted with the fact that the Yashica Super-8 camera was not made until 1969, she stated that she received the "experimental" camera from a friend and was not even sure the manufacturer's name was on it. [5]

Beverly Oliver's claims were the basis for a scene in Oliver Stone's 1991 film JFK , in which a character named "Beverly" meets Jim Garrison in a Dallas nightclub. [6] Played by Lolita Davidovich, she is depicted in the director's cut as wearing a headscarf at Dealey Plaza and speaking of having given the film she shot to two men claiming to be FBI agents.

House Select Committee on Assassinations report

In March 1979, the Photographic Evidence Panel of the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations indicated that they were unable to locate any film attributed to the Babushka Lady. [7] According to their report: "Initially, Robert Groden, a photographic consultant to the committee advised the panel as to pertinent photographic issues and related materials. Committee investigators located many of the suggested films and photographs, however, some items were never located, i.e. the Babushka Lady film, a color photograph by Norman Similas, and the original negative of the Betzner photograph." [7]

Public hearings of the Assassination Records Review Board

On November 18, 1994, assassination researcher Gary Mack testified before the Assassination Records Review Board that he had recently been told by an executive in Kodak's Dallas office that a woman in her early 30s with brunette hair brought in film purported to be of the assassination scene while they were processing the Zapruder film. [8] According to Mack, the executive said the woman explained to federal investigators already at the film processing office that she ran from Main Street across the grass to Elm Street where she stopped and snapped a photo with some people in the foreground of the presidential limousine and the Texas School Book Depository. [8] Mack said that he was told by the Kodak executive that the photo was extremely blurry and "virtually useless" and indicated that the woman likely went home without anyone recording her identity. [8] After suggesting that the woman in the story may have been the Babushka Lady, Mack then told the Board: "I do not believe that Beverly Oliver is the Babushka Lady, or, let me rephrase that, she certainly could be but the rest of the story is a fabrication." [8]

Also appearing that same day before the ARRB as "Beverly Oliver Massegee", Oliver stated that she was 17 years old at the time of the assassination. [8] She told the Board that she was filming with an "experimental" 8 mm movie camera approximately 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 m) from Kennedy when he was shot and that the film was confiscated by a man who identified himself as an FBI agent. [8] According to Oliver, she handed over the camera because the man was an authority figure and because she feared being caught in possession of marijuana. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>JFK</i> (film) 1991 American thriller film directed by Oliver Stone

JFK is a 1991 American epic political thriller film written and directed by Oliver Stone. The film examines the investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, who came to believe there was a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy and that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of John F. Kennedy</span> 1963 murder of the 35th U.S. President

On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife, Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife, Nellie, when he was fatally shot from the nearby Texas School Book Depository by former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. The motorcade rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Kennedy was pronounced dead about 30 minutes after the shooting; Connally was also wounded in the attack but recovered. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president later that day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Hill</span> Eyewitness to President John F. Kennedys assassination

Norma Jean Lollis Hill was an American woman who was an eyewitness to the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Hill was known as the "Lady in Red" because of the long red raincoat she wore that day, as seen in Abraham Zapruder's film of the assassination. A teacher by profession, she was a consultant for Oliver Stone's 1991 film JFK and co-wrote JFK: The Last Dissenting Witness with Bill Sloan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dealey Plaza</span> Dallas, Texas, U S. historic place

Dealey Plaza is a city park in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It is sometimes called the "birthplace of Dallas". It was also the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963; 30 minutes after the shooting, Kennedy was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital. The Dealey Plaza Historic District was named a National Historic Landmark on the 30th anniversary of the assassination, to preserve Dealey Plaza, street rights-of-way, and buildings and structures by the plaza visible from the assassination site, that have been identified as witness locations or as possible locations for the assassin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Zapruder</span> Witness to the Kennedy assassination

Abraham Zapruder was a Ukrainian-born American clothing manufacturer who witnessed the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. He unexpectedly captured the shooting in a home movie while filming the presidential limousine and motorcade as it traveled through Dealey Plaza. The Zapruder film is regarded as the most complete footage of the assassination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Moorman</span> Woman who captured a picture of the 1963 JFK assassination

Mary Ann Moorman is an American woman who chanced to photograph US President John F. Kennedy a fraction of a second after he was fatally shot in the head in Dallas, Texas. The Badge Man, whom conspiracy theorists claim is one of Kennedy's assassins, is purportedly visible in another of her photographs taken that day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Badge Man</span> Unverified person

The Badge Man is a figure that is purportedly present within the Mary Moorman photograph of the assassination of United States president John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. Conspiracy theorists have suggested that this figure is a sniper firing a weapon at the president from the grassy knoll. Although a reputed muzzle flash obscures much of the detail, the Badge Man has been described as a person wearing a police uniform—the moniker itself derives from a bright spot on the chest, which is said to resemble a gleaming badge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza</span> Museum dedicated to John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, U.S.

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is a museum located on the sixth floor of the Dallas County Administration Building in downtown Dallas, Texas, overlooking Dealey Plaza at the intersection of Elm and Houston Streets. The museum examines the life, times, death, and legacy of United States President John F. Kennedy, and the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, as well as the various conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dal-Tex Building</span> Brick in Texas, United States

The Dal-Tex Building is a seven-story office building located at 501 Elm Street in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. The building is located on the northeast corner of Elm and North Houston streets, across the street from the Texas School Book Depository in Dealey Plaza, the scene of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The Dal-Tex Building, sometimes called the Dallas-Textiles Building, the Dal-Tex Market Building, or the Dal-Tex Mart Building, was a center of the textile business in Dallas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ike Altgens</span> American photojournalist who captured JFK assassination

James William "Ike" Altgens was an American photojournalist, photo editor, and field reporter for the Associated Press (AP) based in Dallas, Texas, who became known for his photographic work during the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy (JFK). Altgens was 19 when he began his AP career, which was interrupted by military service during World War II. When his service time ended, Altgens returned to Dallas and got married. He soon went back to work for the local AP bureau and eventually earned a position as a senior editor.

Robert J. Groden is an American author who has written extensively about conspiracy theories regarding the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. His books include The Killing of a President: The Complete Photographic Record of the JFK Assassination, the Conspiracy, and the Cover-up; The Search for Lee Harvey Oswald: A Comprehensive Photographic Record; and JFK: The Case for Conspiracy. Groden is a photo-optics technician who served as a photographic consultant for the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy autopsy</span> Autopsy of John Fitzgerald Kennedy

The autopsy of president John F. Kennedy was performed at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. The autopsy began at about 8 p.m. EST November 22, 1963—the day of Kennedy's assassination—and ended in the early morning of November 23, 1963. The choice of autopsy hospital in the Washington, D.C. area was made by his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, who chose the Bethesda as President Kennedy had been a naval officer during World War II.

Linda Kay Willis was a close witness during the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy.

Orville Orhel Nix was a witness to the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. His filming of the shooting, which only captured the last few seconds of it, but shows the grassy knoll in its entirety, is considered to be nearly as important as the film by Abraham Zapruder.

Marie M. Muchmore was one of the witnesses to the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. A color 8 mm film that Muchmore made is one of the primary documents of the assassination. The Muchmore film, with other 8 mm films taken by Abraham Zapruder and Orville Nix, was used by the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination and to position the presidential limousine in a forensic recreation of the event in May 1964.

Marilyn Sitzman was an American receptionist and a witness to the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. She was with her boss, Abraham Zapruder, as he made the Zapruder film, the most studied record of the assassination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zapruder film</span> 1963 film of the John F. Kennedy assassination

The Zapruder film is a silent 8mm color motion picture sequence shot by Abraham Zapruder with a Bell & Howell home-movie camera, as United States President John F. Kennedy's motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. It captured the assassination of the President.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories</span> Conspiracy theories regarding the assassination of JFK

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, spawned numerous conspiracy theories. These theories allege the involvement of the CIA, the Mafia, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, the KGB, or some combination of these individuals and entities. Some conspiracy theories have alleged a coverup by parts of the federal government, such as the original FBI investigators, the Warren Commission, or the CIA. Former Los Angeles District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi estimated that a total of 42 groups, 82 assassins, and 214 people had been accused at one time or another in various conspiracy scenarios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three tramps</span> Unidentified group allegedly involved with the assassination of John F Kennedy

The three tramps are three men photographed by several Dallas-area newspapers under police escort near the Texas School Book Depository shortly after the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Since the mid-1960s, various allegations have been made about the identities of the men and their involvement in a conspiracy to kill Kennedy. The three men were later identified from Dallas Police Department records as Gus Abrams, Harold Doyle, and John Gedney.

<i>Pictures of the Pain</i>

Pictures of the Pain: Photography and the Assassination of President Kennedy is a 1994 book by Richard B. Trask, an American historian and archivist based in Danvers, Massachusetts. The book compiles more than 350 photographs made by amateur and professional photographers in Dallas, Texas, during the November 1963 assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy, and includes interviews with many of the people who made the images, some of which had never been published prior to the book's release.

References

  1. ↑ "Muchmore frame". Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2003.
  2. ↑ "Zapruder Frame 285". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2005.
  3. ↑ "JFK Assassination Films". Jfk-online.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  4. ↑ "JFK Assassination Films". Jfk-online.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bugliosi, Vincent (2007). Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy . New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p.  1405. ISBN   978-0-393-04525-3.
  6. ↑ Stone, Oliver; Sklar, Zachary (1992). "JFK: The Documented Screenplay". JFK: The Book of the Film : The Documented Screenplay. New York: Applause Books. pp. 119–121. ISBN   9781557831279 . Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  7. 1 2 Appendix to Hearings before the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives. Vol. VI Photographic Evidence. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1979. p. 13. Archived from the original on April 17, 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 United States of America Assassination Records Review Board: Public Hearing. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. November 18, 1994. pp. 25–26, 41–43. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.