Robert H. Jackson (photographer)

Last updated
Robert H. Jackson
Born
Robert Hill Jackson

(1934-04-08) April 8, 1934 (age 89)
Dallas, Texas, US
Other namesBob
OccupationPhotographer
Known for1964 Pulitzer Prize for Photography
Notable work Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald

Robert "Bob" Jackson (born April 8, 1934) is an American photographer. In 1964, Jackson, then working for the Dallas Times Herald , was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Photography for his image capturing the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and career

Jackson's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald Ruby shoots Oswald.jpg
Jackson's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald

Born on April 8, 1934, Jackson grew up in Dallas. His interest in photography began when he was 12 or 13. An aunt gave him a Baby Brownie Special camera, and a family cat became one of his first subjects. When Jackson turned 14, his interest became more serious. Another aunt gave him an Argus C-3 35 mm camera. Jackson's first news photo was of a double fatality crash in northern Dallas. Jackson persuaded his father to drive him to the scene of the crash. His second news photo was of an airplane crash at Love Field. [4] Jackson attended Highland Park High School, and later Southern Methodist University, leaving the university in 1957. [5]

His photography interest grew when he began photographing sports car racing. He joined the 36th Infantry National Guard. While in the Army, Jackson became a photographer for an Army general. [4] In August 1960, the Dallas Times Herald hired him. [5]

November 1963

On November 22, 1963, Jackson was assigned to cover President John F. Kennedy's arrival at Love Field and his motorcade through the city. Jackson and many other journalists traveled with the President and first lady from the airport. He was in the eighth vehicle behind the presidential limousine as the motorcade headed down Elm Street. Jackson was sitting atop the back seat of the convertible as the motorcade approached Dealey Plaza. He was in the process of changing film when the shots were fired; but his camera was empty. He had just removed a roll of film to hand-off to another newspaper employee, and had not yet reloaded. However, he was among the few people who thought that they saw a rifle barrel in the window of the book depository. After the assassination, Jackson remained in Dealey Plaza, but took no more photos, something he later regretted. [1]

Two days later, Jackson was told to go to the police station to photograph the transfer of Oswald to the county jail. Using his Nikon S3 35mm camera, Jackson photographed the shooting of Oswald by Jack Ruby in the Dallas police station garage. The photo taken immediately as the shot rang out, shows Oswald impacted by the bullet, his mouth has already opened wide in an anguished expression and his manacled hands clutched at his abdomen, while Dallas police detective Jim Leavelle who was escorting Oswald, reacts. [1] In March 1964, Jackson was called to testify in front of the Warren Commission. [6]

Jack Beers's picture of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald, taken just prior to Jackson's Lee Harvey Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby as Oswald is being moved by police, 1963.jpg
Jack Beers's picture of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald, taken just prior to Jackson's

Jackson's colleague Jack Beers at The Dallas Morning News took an almost identical photo, but six-tenths of a second earlier, before Oswald screams in pain. Beers was also called to testify in front of the Warren Commission. [7]

Later life

In later life, Jackson was a staff photographer for the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph . He retired from the Gazette in 1999. He has three daughters, two sons from his wife's previous marriage and a son with his current wife. As of November 2013, he has 10 grandchildren [4] and resides in Manitou Springs, Colorado. [4] [1]

In 2021, on the fifty-eighth anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, Jackson said "Every photographer would like to shoot an image that has meaning. I hated to see it happen in Dallas. But I was glad that I was able to cover a moment in history, in time." [8]

Related Research Articles

<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 hastily sworn in as president two hours and eight minutes later aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field.

<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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas School Book Depository</span> Historic building in Dallas, Texas

The Texas School Book Depository, now known as the Dallas County Administration Building, is a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. The building was Lee Harvey Oswald's vantage point during the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald, an employee at the depository, shot and mortally wounded President Kennedy from a sixth floor window on the building's southeastern corner. Kennedy died at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

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

This article outlines the timeline of events before, during, and after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States.

<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, formerly the Texas School Book Depository, 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> Office building in Dallas, Texas, United States

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Aynesworth</span> American journalist (1931–2023)

Hugh Grant Aynesworth was an American journalist, investigative reporter, author, and teacher. Aynesworth was reported to have witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza, the capture and arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald at the Texas Theatre, and the shooting of Oswald by Jack Ruby in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters. In a 1976 Texas Monthly article, William Broyles Jr. described Aynesworth as "one of the most respected authorities on the assassination of 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.

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 steadying her boss, Abraham Zapruder, as he stood atop a pergola in Dealey Plaza making what has since become to b known as the Zapruder film, the most studied record of the assassination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Leavelle</span> American police detective (1920–2019)

James Robert Leavelle was a Dallas Police Department homicide detective who, on November 24, 1963, was escorting Lee Harvey Oswald through the basement of Dallas Police headquarters when Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby. Leavelle prominently was noted in films and photographs—including one that won a Pulitzer Prize—taken just as Ruby shot Oswald.

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

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<i>Four Days in November</i> 1964 film

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Donald Clinton Grant was an American photographer and photojournalist based in Dallas, Texas. He was a staff photographer with The Dallas Morning News from 1949 to 1986. He was particularly known for his images of animals and children. Grant's photographs were published in numerous newspapers and magazines, including Paris Match, Newsweek and Time; five of his feature photos were published on the back page of issues of Life magazine.

<i>Pictures of the Pain</i>

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Ira Jefferson "Jack" Beers Jr., known professionally as Jack Beers, was an American photojournalist who worked for The Dallas Morning News. Beers was best known for his widely distributed photograph capturing Jack Ruby lunging toward Lee Harvey Oswald a split-second before firing his fatal shot on November 24, 1963. He also took a famous photograph of football player Kyle Rote en route to a touchdown in 1948 – the only other photograph to be featured on a full page in The Dallas Morning News over a 25-year period.

<i>Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald</i> 1964 Pulitzer prize winning photograph

Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald is a 1963 photograph of nightclub owner Jack Ruby shooting accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. The image was captured by Dallas Times Herald photographer Robert H. Jackson and it won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Photography. Jackson began working for the Dallas Times Herald in 1960.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Meyer, Jeremy P. (23 November 2013). "Bob Jackson's iconic photo of Ruby shooting Oswald still resonates". The Denver Post .
  2. Granberry, Michael (5 April 2010). "Six-Tenths of a Second, Two Lives Forever Changed".
  3. Fischer, Heinz-D; Fischer, Erika J. (2003). Complete Historical Handbook of the Pulitzer Prize System 1917-2000: Decision-Making Processes in all Award Categories based on unpublished Sources. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN   9783110939125.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Boyle, Jim (10 November 2013). "JFK series: Newspaper photographer witnesses historic shootings".
  5. 1 2 "Testimony of Robert H. Jackson".
  6. "A Photographer's Story: Bob Jackson and the Kennedy Assassination". The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Archived from the original on July 6, 2010.
  7. Granberry, Michael (June 30, 2002). "Photographer snapped Oswald's murder a hair too soon, lost Pulitzer, place in history to rival". Dallas News. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  8. Helmuth, Josh (November 22, 2021). "The Shot: Manitou Springs man witnessed JFK assassination, then took Pulitzer Prize-winning photo two days later". KRDO. Retrieved January 11, 2022.