Original uncut Associated Press teletype roll reporting the breaking news of the Kennedy assassination in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Extending to an approximate length of 16-and-a-half feet, the roll consists of bulletins AP109 through AP141, which includes reports on the shooting, witness accounts, Mrs. Kennedy’s reaction, Secret Service and police response, pursuit of the assassin, and events at Parkland Hospital where the President was ultimately declared dead. Highlights are as follows:
AP109: “President Kennedy has been shot in Dallas, Texas. He was shot as his motorcade left downtown Dallas. Mrs. Kennedy jumped up and grabbed the president. She cried ‘Oh, no’ as the motorcade sped on.”
AP112: “A reporter asked presidential assistant Kenneth O’Connell if President Kennedy was dead. O’Connell gave no answer.”
AP113: “President Kennedy has been reported taken to Parkland Hospital in Dallas. That’s near the Dallas Trade Mart where he was scheduled to make a speech.”
AP114: “Reporter Jack Bell reports three shots were fired as the presidential motorcade entered a triple underpass in Dallas that leads to the Stemmons freeway. After the president was shot, the Secret Service waved the motorcade on at top speed to the nearby Parkland Hospital.”
AP115 (Third Expanded Five-Minute Summary): “President Kennedy was shot today as his motorcade left downtown Dallas. There is no report on his condition…Representative Albert Thomas of Texas says he has been informed that both President Kennedy and Governor John Connally of Texas are still alive…Two Roman Catholic priests had been summoned to the emergency room earlier. A White House aide said the priests had been ‘asked for’…FLASH Two priests said Kennedy dead.”
AP131 (Eleventh Five-Minute Summary): “President Kennedy is dead. A sniper with a high-powered rifle shot him to death as Kennedy rode in a motorcade out of downtown Dallas…Kennedy died of a shot in the brain…At the hospital, Kennedy was given a blood transfusion—in vain. Two priests administered the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church. He died about 30 minutes after he was shot…With the assassination of Kennedy, Johnson automatically became president…An intensive search is underway for the assassin….President Kennedy was 46 years old, and the youngest man ever elected to the presidency. There’s no immediate word when Johnson will take the oath of office.”
AP132: “A Secret Service agent and a Dallas policeman were shot and killed today. They were shot some distance from the area where President Kennedy was assassinated.”
AP134: “Police now say President Kennedy was assassinated by a shot from a warehouse. The entire building has been evacuated. A Dallas policeman says police found the remains of fried chicken and paper on the fifth floor. They said the sniper had apparently been there for some time. The Secret Service said the assassin apparently used a high-powered Army or Japanese rifle of about 25 caliber. They said the rifle had a scope on it.”
AP135: “President Kennedy’s body was removed from Parkland Hospital at 2:05 P.M. Central…Mrs. Kennedy rode in a passenger seat in the ambulance.”
AP136: “Police have arrested a white man in the Riverside section of Fort Worth in connection with the shooting of a Dallas policeman. The man denied any connection with the assassination of President Kennedy.”
AP140: “When word of the President’s death reached the White House, women wept unashamedly. People began drifting toward the White House and stood silently on the sidewalk, or in Lafayette Park, across Pennsylvania Avenue, just staring. The White House flag was lowered to half-mast within moments after word of the president’s death was received.” Includes its original tube. Rolled and in very good to fine condition, with staining, backing, and paper loss to the beginning foot or so of the scroll.
