'Unknown, Unseen' Footage of JFK Motorcade Brings $137K

UPDATE Sep 29, 2024 10:35 AM CDT

A newly emerged film of President John F. Kennedy's motorcade speeding down a Dallas freeway toward a hospital after he was fatally wounded sold at auction Saturday for $137,500. RR Auction in Boston said the buyer of the 8mm color home film did not want to be identified, the AP reports. The auction house has released stills taken from the portion of the film showing the race down I-35 but not video clips of it.

Sep 4, 2024 6:55 PM CDT

After being stored in a milk crate for many years, dramatic footage of the aftermath of the shooting of John F. Kennedy is being auctioned off. The minute-long film, taken from Stemmons Freeway, has only been seen by a handful of people, the New York Times reports. It shows the president's car racing toward the hospital moments after he had been shot. The reel "has remained unknown and unseen for decades," the auction house says.

• According to the RR Auction listing: "Secret Service Agent Clint Hill dominates the scene, spreadeagled precariously above the back seat, having leapt onto the back of the vehicle to shield the first lady and wounded president. Jacqueline Kennedy, slumping over her stricken husband, is easily identified in the rear seat by the bright hue of her iconic pink suit." Kennedy himself is not seen in the footage.

• Dallas-area businessmen Dale Carpenter Sr. filmed the tail end of Kennedy's motorcade from Lemmon Avenue in Dallas. He captured the dramatic post-shooting scene after he rushed to the freeway to try for a better view from farther down the motorcade's route, the Times reports.
• James Gates, Carpenter's grandson, tells People that the footage was among several reels of film his mother handed down after his grandfather's death. "The film was stored in a plastic Dean Foods milk crate and had been in my closet for several years before I decided to put it in a fire safe." Family members say they're not sure if Carpenter ever told authorities about the footage.

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• "Unlike any other footage known to exist, this film captures a segment immediately following the Zapruder film, providing a fresh perspective on one of the most analyzed moments in history," says Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction.
• Gates says he tracked Hill down in 2012 to let him know about the footage. The 92-year-old former agent tells People that the film "is an emotional thing for me because I know what has happened. I know what I'm seeing in that film is a dead president." He tells the Times that the trip to the hospital from Dealey Plaza "felt like a lifetime. Every second counted."
• Online bidding is already underway and a live auction will be held on Sept. 28. The bidding currently stands at $12,100.

(More JFK assassination stories.)