Ike Altgens

James William "Ike" Altgens (/lt.nz/;[1] April

28, 1919 December 12, 1995) was an American
photojournalist, photo editor, and eld reporter for the
Associated Press (AP) based in Dallas, Texas, who
became known for his photographic work during the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK). He
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, then went back to work for the local AP bureau
and eventually earned a position as a senior editor.

as a radio broadcaster during this time. Following his

return to Dallas from military service, he married Clara
Halliburton in July 1944. Altgens went back to work for
the AP in 1945 and was assigned to its news bureau. He
also attended night classes at Southern Methodist University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech with a
minor in journalism.[7]
Starting in 1959, Altgens made occasional appearances
as an actor and model in motion pictures, television and
print advertising. Credited as James Altgens,[8] he played
Secretary Lloyd Patterson in the low-budget science ction thriller Beyond the Time Barrier (1960);[9][10] his role
included the lms nal line of dialogue.[11] Altgens acting career also included a role as a witness in Free, White
and 21 (1963),[12] and as a witness (not as himself) in The
Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1964).[13]

Altgens was on assignment for the AP when he captured

two historic images on November 22, 1963.[lower-alpha 1]
The second photograph, showing First Lady Jacqueline
Kennedy toward the rear of the presidential limousine and
Secret Service agent Clint Hill on its bumper, was reproduced on the front pages of newspapers around the world.
Within days, Altgens preceding photograph became controversial after people began to question whether accused
assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was visible in the main doorway of the Texas School Book Depository as the gunshots
were red at JFK.[lower-alpha 2]

Altgens photographed President Kennedy for the AP in

1961 at Perrin Air Force Base. Kennedy and his predecessor Dwight D. Eisenhower were traveling to Bonham,
Texas in November to attend the funeral of Sam Rayburn,
three-time Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Earlier that day, Altgens was the only phoAltgens appeared briey as a lm actor and model during tojournalist to climb to the 29th oor of the Mercantile
his 40-year career with the AP, which ended in 1979. He National Bank Building in Dallas to cover the rescue of a
spent his later years working in display advertising, and young girl from an elevator re.[14]
answering letters and other requests made by assassination researchers. Altgens and his wife Clara died in 1995
at about the same time in their Dallas home. Both had
2 Assassination
of
President
suered from long illnesses, and police said poisoning by
Kennedy
a malfunctioning furnace also may have contributed to
their deaths.
See also: Assassination of John F. Kennedy

Early life and career

2.1 In Dealey Plaza

Ike Altgens was born James William Altgens on April 28,

1919 in Dallas, Texas, to Willie May (ne Pitchford), a
housewife, and J. H. Altgens, a machinist.[3] He had a
younger sister, Mary.[4][lower-alpha 3] Altgens was orphaned
as a child and raised by a widowed aunt.[lower-alpha 4] He
was hired by the Associated Press in 1938 when he was
19, shortly after his graduation from North Dallas High
School. Altgens began his career handling various assignments and writing some sports articles. He showed a talent for photography and was assigned in 1940 to work in
the wirephoto oce.[7]

On November 22, 1963, Altgens was scheduled to work

in the AP oces in Dallas as the wirephoto editor. He
asked instead to go to the railroad overpass (the bridge
under which Elm, Main and Commerce Streets converge at the west end of Dealey Plaza) to photograph the
motorcade that was to take President Kennedy from Love
Field to his scheduled appearance at the Dallas Trade
Mart. Altgens was not assigned to work in the eld that
day, so he took his personal single-lens reex camera
rather than the motor-driven equipment normally used for
[lower-alpha 5]
Altgens career was interrupted by service in the United news events.
States Coast Guard during World War II; he moonlighted Altgens tried to nd a good camera angle on the bridge,
1

ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY

... I should have made the picture that I was set up to

make. And I didn't do it.[19]

Altgens sixth photograph of the motorcade, and his rst during

the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The Elm Street doorway to
the Texas School Book Depository is seen behind the limousine.
This area soon became the focus of private research and ocial
investigations. See The man resembling Lee Harvey Oswald.

but uniformed police said it was private property and

turned him away, and he moved to a location within
the plaza.[16] He began photographing the motorcade on
Main Street as the vehicles approached Houston Street,
and got a close-up of the presidential limousine as it
turned right onto Houston.[17] He then picked up his
equipment bag and ran on the grass toward the south curb
along Elm Street, stopping across from the Plazas north
colonnade. Altgens heard a loud noise at about the same
time as his rst photograph from that spot (simultaneous
to Zapruder lm frame 255),[18] but he did not recall having any reaction since he thought the noise came from a
recracker.[17]

Altgens recovered,[20] and his next photograph showed

the First Lady with her hand on the vehicles trunk
lid and Secret Service agent Clint Hill standing on
the bumper behind her as the driver had begun to
accelerate.[21][lower-alpha 6] This photograph was quickly reproduced on the front pages of newspapers around the
world.[24] Mrs. Kennedy testied the following June that
she was aware of the image, but had no memory of her
actions.[25] Hill later wrote that this picture would forever
identify him as the Secret Service agent on the back of
the limousine.[26]
After the gunshots ended, Altgens saw several armed men
running up the grassy slope between Elm Street and the
railroad tracks; he crossed the street toward the activity to
see if he could get a picture of anyone being arrested.[27]
When they came back without a suspect, Altgens hurried back to the AP wirephoto oce in the Dallas Morning News building on Houston Street to le his report
and have the lm developed. He telephoned the news
oce,[28] leading to one of the rst news bulletins of the
shooting:[29]
Dallas, Nov. 22 (AP)President Kennedy
was shot today just as his motorcade left
downtown Dallas. Mrs. Kennedy jumped up
and grabbed Mr. Kennedy. She cried, Oh,
no!" The motorcade sped on.

2.2 After the assassination

2.2.1 Additional assignments
Once his pictures had been distributed via the wirephoto
network, Altgens was sent to Parkland Memorial Hospital
along with a second photographer. Both stayed at Parkland until Kennedys body was taken to Air Force One,
still at Love Field.[24]

Altgens seventh photograph, reproduced by newspapers around

the world, shows the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Secret
Service agent Clint Hill and Jacqueline Kennedy are seen in the
foreground.

As Altgens set up for a second photograph along Elm

Street, he heard a sound that he recognized as gunre, and
saw that the President had been struck in the head. Altgens later wrote that his camera was focused and ready,
but when JFKs head exploded, sending substance in my
direction, I virtually became paralyzed. ... Yet, many
news people say I should have taken the picture anyway

Altgens returned to Dealey Plaza to photograph the assassination site for diagramming purposes, then was sent
to Dallas City Hall to retrieve the work of another AP
photographer who had pictures of accused assassin Lee
Harvey Oswald in custody. This was the only time he saw
the suspect, and Altgens thought Oswald showed signs of
having been thoroughly interrogated.[30]
2.2.2 The man resembling Lee Harvey Oswald
Ten days after Kennedy was assassinated, the Associated
Press in Dallas reported that Altgens rst photograph
along Elm Street had captured the attention of people who
noticed that one of the men standing in the main doorway
to the book depository appeared to resemble the accused

2.2

After the assassination

3
itory workers in an eort to determine the identity of
the man in Altgens photograph; hearings included testimony from ve people who said Lovelady was there,
and from three others (including Lovelady) who directly identied him in the picture.[lower-alpha 10] Ultimately, the commission decided Oswald was not in the
doorway.[48][lower-alpha 11]
In 1978, the House Select Committee on Assassinations studied several still and motion images, including
an enhanced version of the Altgens photograph, in the
scope of its investigation. The committee also concluded
that Lovelady was the man pictured in the depository
doorway.[51]
The ocial conclusions were still being debated by academics and conspiracy theorists more than 50 years after the assassination.[52] One such theorist, Texas author Jim Marrs,[53] wrote that most researchers were
ready to accept Lovelady as the man in Altgens photograph. He later wrote that others were resisting any such
acceptance.[54]
2.2.3 Witness to history

Altgens was featured in two AP dispatches issued on

November 22, 1963. He initially reported hearing
two shots, but thought someone had been setting o
reworks.[55] For a November 25 story, Altgens wrote
that he did not know the origin of the gunshots until later,
but he believed they came from the other side of Elm
killer Lee Harvey Oswald. Those observers raised the Street, opposite the presidential limousine from where he
question of whether Oswald could have killed Kennedy, was standing.[56][lower-alpha 12]
saying he would not have been able to get to the doorway
In 1964, Altgens testied for the Warren Commission
from the sixth oor of the building.[lower-alpha 7] The report
and was asked about the gunre and whether he knew
quoted depository superintendent Roy Truly, who idenits source. He said he had not been keeping track of the
tied fellow employee Billy Lovelady as the man in the
number of gunshots red in Dealey Plaza because he beimage. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told
lieved them to be reworks, but he was certain of at least
the AP they had already investigated the photograph and
two.[57] Altgens believed Kennedys wounds suggested a
also identied Lovelady.[31]
nal shot that came from the vicinity of the book deposiOn May 24, 1964, six months after the shooting, the New tory building, but he could not say with any certainty.[58]
York Herald Tribune reported that Altgensthe man reWhen CBS television interviewed him in 1967, Altgens
sponsible for probably the most controversial photosaid it was obvious to him that the head shot came from
graph of the decade,[32] and one of the few people standbehind Kennedys limousine because it caused him to
ing near the motorcade when Kennedy was shothad not
bolt forward, dislodging him from this depression in the
been questioned either by the FBI or by the Warren Comseat cushion.[lower-alpha 13] He added that the commotion
mission.[33] A newspaper column printed in Chicagos
across the street after the shooting struck him as odd,
American the following day made the same observation.
since he believed the assassin would have needed to move
FBI investigators interviewed Altgens eight days later,
very quickly to get there.[60]
on June 2, 1964;[34][lower-alpha 8] he testied before the
Warren Commission on July 22.[36] By this time, Altgens was aware of the individual who resembled Oswald; 2.2.4 Trial of Clay Shaw
Lovelady had been interviewed for the Herald Tribune
article,[lower-alpha 9] and Altgens testied that he too had District Attorney Jim Garrison subpoenaed Altgens to
been contacted. He said there was nothing to share be- appear in New Orleans, Louisiana for the 1969 trial of
cause he had not taken part in any assignments involving businessman Clay Shaw on charges of conspiring to kill
depository employees.[38]
Kennedy. A check for US$300 was sent to cover the airThe man in the doorway of the Texas School Book Depository as
seen in Altgens sixth photograph. Ocial investigations identied
him as depository employee Billy Lovelady.

Commission representatives interviewed several depos- fare, but Altgens did not want to go; he thought Garrison

6 NOTES

was acting in his own self-interest.[61]

tograph along Elm Street. Altgens was met instead

by Loveladys wife, who said her husband would never
agree to be interviewed. The couple had moved several
times, but they were still being harassed by people who
wanted the shirt Lovelady was wearing when Kennedy
was shot.[69][lower-alpha 17]

Altgens and former Texas Governor John Connally met

by chance in Houston a short time later.[61][lower-alpha 14]
Connally told Altgens that he also had been called to testify and received airfare, but he decided to cash the check
and spend the money. Connally pressed Altgens to spend
his as well.[62] Altgens later learned that they were not Altgens also said he had told FBI agents that he might
required to attend.[63]
have had better pictures for investigators if he had been
allowed to stay on the overpass. By being up there, I
would have been able to show the sniper.[71]

Later life

In 1979, after 40 years with the AP, Altgens retired rather

than accept a transfer to a dierent bureau. He stayed
in Dallas and took a job with the Ford Motor Company
working on displays and exhibits. Altgens also spent time
answering requests by assassination researchers,[62] and
his reminiscences were included in several publications
and discussions:

4 Death

On December 12, 1995, Ike and Clara Altgens were

found dead in separate rooms in their home in Dallas. A
Houston Chronicle article quoted a nephew, Dallas attorney Ron Grant, as saying his aunt Clara had been very ill
with heart trouble and other health problems, and both of
them had long suered from the u.[72] Carbon monoxPictures of the Pain and That Day In Dallas
ide poisoning from a faulty furnace may also have played
[73]
[64]
Altgens was survived by three
Starting in 1984,
Altgens shared personal details and a role in their deaths.
nephews,
and
his
wife
by
two
sisters.[74]
recollections in letters and telephone conversations for
the book Pictures of the Pain: Photography and the Assassination of President Kennedy (1994).[lower-alpha 15] His
story would be expanded and highlighted for the 1998 5 See also
follow-up That Day In Dallas. In his correspondence,
Altgens said he expected that some controversy over the
Abraham Zapruder
details of the assassination would always exist, but those
researchers who tried to sway him from the Warren Com Clint Grant
missions conclusion (that Oswald, acting alone, killed
Kennedy) had failed to do so.[65][lower-alpha 16]
Marie Muchmore
Reporters Remember 11-22-63
Mary Moorman
In November 1993, Altgens took part in Reporters
Remember 11-22-63, a panel discussion at Southern
Orville Nix
Methodist University in Dallas including journalists who
Phillip Willis
shared their experiences from 30 years before. Moderator Hugh Aynesworth introduced Altgens and reminded
attendees of the controversy over the man in his picture
who resembled Oswald.[66]
6 Notes
Altgens described what he saw following the fatal shot to
JFK. There was no blood on the right-hand side of his
face; there was no blood on the front of his face. But there
was a tremendous amount of blood on the left-hand side
and at the back of the head. This suggested to Altgens
that the gunshots came from the rear, because he should
have seen some evidence otherwise.[67] He also remembered seeing Jackie Kennedy on the trunk of the limousine, and thinking that she was frightened by the events
and was trying to get away.[68]
No More Silence
Altgens shared a story about Billy Lovelady for No More
Silence: An Oral History of the Assassination of President Kennedy (1998). Lovelady had contacted Altgens and asked him to deliver a copy of the rst pho-

[1] There were seven total photographs of the motorcade by

Altgens, who later told author Richard B. Trask that he
was not sure of the number and did not want to take credit
for anything that was not his work. By this time, the negatives had been examined at the AP New York bureau by
Richard E. Sprague, who found that Altgens lm is of the
same type (Tri-X), is numbered sequentially, is chronological, and taken from the same vantage points at which
Altgens is known to have been located.[2]
[2] Ocial investigations concluded he was not; see The
man resembling Lee Harvey Oswald.
[3] Child and father were each listed as Altgen. His World
War I draft registration card identied him as John Henry
Altgen.[5]

[4] In 1932, Altgens mother, then Willie May Gilbert, died in

Dallas at age 30 of pulmonary tuberculosis when her son
was 12.[6] Death data for his father could not be located as
of October 20, 2016.
[5] In Pictures of the Pain, Trask wrote that Altgens personal
camera was a 35 mm Nikkorex-F single-lens reex model,
serial #371734, that he had purchased via the AP in January 1963 from Medo Photo Supply Corp. On November
22 he used a 105 mm telephoto lens and Eastman Kodak
Tri-X pan lm. Altgens explained to Trask that using a
manual camera required particular care in creating good
pictures.[15]
[6] Under questioning for the Warren Commission, Hill
who was assigned to Mrs. Kennedytestied that she
was, it appeared to me, reaching for something coming o the right rear bumper of the car. Asked if there
was anything back there that [you] observed, that [Mrs.
Kennedy] might have been reaching for, Hill said that he
thought I saw something come o the back, too, but I
cannot say that there was.[22] For his book Five Days in
November, Hill recalled thinking, Oh God. Shes reaching for some material thats come out of the presidents
head.[23]
[7] If the man in the picture actually had been Oswald it
would seem to prove that he was not the Kennedy assassin because he would not have had time to reach the street
entrance.[31]
[8] Altgens told author Larry A. Sneed that he had asked his
bureau chief whether he should contact the FBI. He was
told, If they want information, we're available, but we
don't go volunteering.[35]
[9] In this article, reprinted as part of Warren Commission
Exhibit No. 1408, Lovelady recalled a visit from two FBI
agents the night after the assassination. When he identied
himself in Altgens photo, Lovelady said one agent had a
big smile on his face because it wasn't Oswald. They said
they had a big discussion down at the FBI and one guy said
it just had to be Oswald.[37]
[10] Those who saw Lovelady: Buell Wesley Frazier,[39]
James Jarman,[40] Harold Norman,[41] Sarah Stanton[42]
and William Shelley.[43] Those who identied him in Altgens photograph: Danny Garcia Arce,[44] Lovelady[45]
and Virginia Baker (Rackley).[46] Shelley, Loveladys supervisor, also signed a statement given to a man who identied himself as FBI Special Agent Alfred D. Neeley.[47]
[11] Notes from his Dallas police interview placed Oswald on
the rst oor eating lunch at about that time";[49] he was
on the second oor when a uniformed ocer confronted
him 90 seconds later.[50]
[12] Altgens said he was told by the APs Los Angeles photo
editor that he might have been shot had the bullet gone
just a bit to the left.[35]
[13] Elaborating for No More Silence, Altgens said, The explanation given which looks like a forward impact I think
is really unexplainable. I don't know whether its a body
reaction or what it was because, from my vantage point,
it was very clear he moved forward and didn't move
backward.[59]

[14] Connally had been seated in the limousine in front of

Kennedy and was wounded during the gunre in Dealey
Plaza.
[15] As printed on the back cover of the books jacket, Altgens
called Pictures a powerful display of words and pictures
graphically illustrating one of the most tragic moments
in the history of the United States. Actual photographs,
eyewitness reports, and the authors standard of thoroughness qualify this book as a 'must read' chronicle of the real
event taking place that fateful day.
[16] In correspondence with Trask in 1984, Altgens wrote,
there will always be some controversy about details surrounding the site and shooting of the President. In 1991
he added, Until those people come up with solid evidence
to support their claims, I see no value in wasting my time
with them.
[17] Skeptics of the ocial conclusions wanted the shirt to
compare it with Altgens photograph.[54] When Lovelady
died in January 1979 at age 41, his attorney told United
Press International that Loveladys resemblance to Oswald
led to his client being hounded out of Dallas by conspiracy theorists, and that 15 years of strain might have
contributed to his death.[70]

7 References
7.1 Footnotes
[1] Journalists Remember 1993, 1:52:48.
[2] Trask 1994, pp. 3189.
[3] Texas State Board of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics.
Standard Certicate of Birth. No. 15971. Filed May 2,
1919.
[4] Texas State Board of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics.
Standard Certicate of Birth. No. 39640. Filed July 25,
1921.
[5] Registration Card. Serial No. 3262. Order No. 4506.
September 12, 1918.
[6] Texas State Board of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics.
Standard Certicate of Death. No. 16279. Filed April 4,
1932.
[7] Trask 1994, p. 307.
[8] Pierce, Arthur C. (1960). Beyond the Time Barrier.
American International Pictures.
[9] Trask 1998, p. 58.
[10] Pierce 1960, at 0:39.
[11] Pierce 1960, at 1:13:44. Gentlemen, we have got a lot to
think about.
[12] The American Film Institute (1976). American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films 19611970. Vol. 1, Part
2 (hardcover ed.). University of California Press. p. 13.
ISBN 0-520-20970-2.

[13] Trask 1998, p. 75.

[39] WCH 1964, Vol. II p. 233.

[14] Trask 1994, p. 308.

[40] WCH 1964, Vol. III p. 202.

[15] Trask 1994, pp. 3089.

[41] WCH 1964, Vol. III p. 189.

[16] WCH 1964, James W. Altgens, Vol. VII p. 516.

[42] WCH 1964, Vol. XXII p. 675.

[17] WCH 1964, James W. Altgens, Vol. VII p. 517.

[43] WCH 1964, Vol. XXII p. 673.

[18] WCH 1964, Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt. Vol. V p. 158.

[19] Trask 1994, pp. 3156.
[20] Trask 1994, p. 315. The sight [of the gunshot aftermath] was unbelievable, and I was surprised I recovered
fast enough to make the picture of the Secret Service man
aiding Mrs. Kennedy.
[21] Trask 1994, pp. 316.
[22] WCH 1964, Vol. II pp. 13840.
[23] Hill & McCubbin 2013, p. 27.
[24] Trask 1994, p. 318.
[25] WCH 1964, Mrs. John F. Kennedy. Vol. V p. 180. You
know, then, there were pictures later on of me climbing
out the back. But I don't remember that at all.
[26] Hill & McCubbin 2013, p. xi. From that point on, I
would forever be known as the Secret Service agent who
jumped on the back of the car.
[27] WCH 1964, James W. Altgens, Vol. VII p. 519. There
was utter confusion at the time I crossed the street. The
Secret Service men, uniformed policemen with drawn
guns that went racing up this little incline ...

REFERENCES

[44] WCH 1964, Vol. VI p. 367.

[45] WCH 1964, Vol. VI p. 338.
[46] WCH 1964, Vol. VII p. 515.
[47] WCH 1964, CE 1381 Signed statements obtained from
all persons known to have been in the Texas School Book
Depository Building on ... Vol. XXII pp. 845.
[48] The Presidents Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (Warren Commission) (1964). The Report of The Presidents Commission on the Assassination
of President Kennedy (PDF). United States Government
Printing Oce. p. 149.
[49] WCH 1964, Vol. XXIV p. 265.
[50] Frontline 1993, 1:27:541:28:04.
[51] HSCA 1978, Appendix Vol. VI: Photographic Evidence;
Ch. IV:B:3:g: Comparison of Photographs of Lee Harvey
Oswald and Billy Nolan Lovelady With That of a Motorcade Spectator pp. 28693.

[31] Associated Press (December 3, 1963). Pictured Man Is

Not Killer. Cumberland, Maryland. Retrieved December 28, 2014 via Cumberland Evening Times, p. 2.

[52] Knuth, Magen (adjunct instructor, American University).

Was Lee Oswald standing in the Depository doorway?".
Kennedy Assassination Home Page. Retrieved December
24, 2014.
Senior Members of the Oswald Innocence Campaign.
Oswald Innocence Campaign. Academics listed as senior members who have argued the doorway issue include
David Wrone, Gerald McKnight, Jerry Kroth and David
G. Caban. Self-published source. Retrieved November
12, 2016.
Hayden, Tyler (November 20, 2013). Oswald Innocence
Campaign Descends on Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara
Independent. Retrieved December 22, 2014.

[32] Associated Press (May 24, 1964). "'Most Controversial Photo of Decade' Is Published. Sarasota, Florida.
Retrieved December 28, 2014 via Sarasota HeraldTribune, p. 2.

[53] Tweedie, Neil (October 24, 2012). The assassination of

President John F Kennedy: the nger points to the KGB
(book review)". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved
October 31, 2016.

[33] WCH 1964, CE 1408 Bonafede, Dom. The Picture

With a Life of Its Own. Vol. XXII p. 794.

[54] Marrs 2013, e-book (no page numbers).

[28] Trask 1994, p. 317.

[29] Pett 1963, p. 14.
[30] Trask 1994, p. 318. "(Trask): To Altgens, the accused
looked exhausted, 'like they had put him through the interrogation ringer.'"

[34] WCH 1964, CE 1407 FBI report dated June 5, 1964,

of interview of James W. Attgens, who took photographs
showing Billy Nolan ... Vol. XXII p. 790.
[35] Sneed 1998, p. 52.
[36] WCH 1964, James W. Altgens, Vol. VII p. 51523.
[37] WCH 1964, Vol. XXII, pp. 7934.
[38] WCH 1964, James W. Altgens, Vol. VII pp. 5223.

[55] Associated Press (November 22, 1963). Kennedy Dead:

Is Shot In Dallas. Ludington Daily News. Ludington,
Michigan. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
[56] Altgens, James (November 25, 1963). Photographer
Near Car Saw It All. Pacic Stars and Stripes. Associated Press. p. 23. Retrieved December 29, 2014. At
rst I thought the shots came from the opposite side of
the street. ... I did not know until later where the shots
came from. I was on the opposite side of the Presidents
car from the gunman. He might have hit me.

7.2

Bibliography

[57] WCH 1964, James W. Altgens. Vol. VII p. 518. I could

vouch for number one, and I can vouch for the last shot,
but I cannot tell you how many shots were in between.
[58] WCH 1964, James W. Altgens. Vol. VII p. 518. There
was esh particles that ew out of the side of his head
in my direction ... Also, the fact that his head was covered with blood, the hairline included, on the left side
all the way down, with no blood on his forehead or face
suggested to me, too, that the shot came from the opposite
side, meaning in the direction of this depository building,
but at no time did I know for certain where the shot came
from.
[59] Sneed 1998, p. 55.
[60] CBS News Inquiry: The Warren Report. CBS News.
August 24, 1967. Archived from the original on March 4,
2016. Retrieved November 1, 2016 via Congressional
RecordHouse, p. 24057. And, thinking that they had
the assassin cornered up in this knoll areaand it seemed
rather strange, as I say, because knowing that the shot
came from behind, this fellow had to really move in order to get over into the knoll area.
[61] Trask 1994, p. 321.
[62] Trask 1994, p. 322.
[63] Sneed 1998, p. 58.
[64] Trask 1994, p. 322, fn. 3.
[65] Trask 1994, p. 30722.
[66] Journalists Remember 1993, 1:52:58. James 'Ike' Altgens, well-known photographer for the AP, shot a very
memorable picture that day, among others I'm sure, but
it became very controversial because as I recall, and I do
recall, it showed a man that looked like Oswald in the door
of the depository building.
[67] Journalists Remember 1993, 1:56:291:56:56.
[68] Journalists Remember 1993, 1:55:30. In response to
someones request for his thoughts, I said, 'The woman
was scared out of her mind and she was looking for a way
to escape.'"
[69] Sneed 1998, p. 47.
[70] He Looked Like Kennedys Assassin, and It Hounded
Him Until His Death. St. Petersburg Times. United Press
International. January 19, 1979. p. B15. Retrieved July
16, 2016 via Google News.
[71] Sneed 1998, p. 53.
[72] Photographer of JFK, wife found dead. Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on November 6, 1999.
[73] Pace, Eric (December 17, 1995). James Altgens, photographer at Kennedy assassination, dies at 76. The New
York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
[74] James Altgens. AP News Archive. Associated Press.
December 15, 1995. Retrieved December 18, 2014.

7.2 Bibliography
Publications
Hill, Clint; McCubbin, Lisa (2013). Five Days in
November (hardcover ed.). Gallery Books. ISBN
978-1-4767-3149-0. Cited as Hill & McCubbin
2013.
Marrs, Jim (2013). Crossre: The Plot that Killed
Kennedy (e-book ed.). Carroll & Graf. ISBN 9780-465-05087-1. Cited as Marrs 2013.
Pett, Saul; Moody, Sid; Mulligan, Hugh; et al., eds.
(1963). The Torch Is Passed: The Associated Press
Story of the Death of a President, John F. Kennedy
(hardcover ed.). Associated Press. ISBN 978-086101-568-9. Cited as Pett 1963.
The Presidents Commission on the Assassination of
President Kennedy (Warren Commission) (1964).
Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits. United
States Government Printing Oce via Mary Ferrell Foundation. Cited as WCH 1964.
Sneed, Larry A. (1998). James W. Altgens: Eyewitness. No More Silence: An Oral History of the
Assassination of President Kennedy. Denton, Texas:
University of North Texas Press. pp. 4159. ISBN
978-1-57441-148-5. Cited as Sneed 1998.
Trask, Richard B. (1994). Pictures of the Pain: Photography and the Assassination of President Kennedy
(hardcover ed.). Yeoman Press. ISBN 0-96385950-1. Cited as Trask 1994.
Trask, Richard B. (1998). That Day in Dallas:
Three Photographers Capture On Film the Day President Kennedy Died (paperback ed.). Yeoman Press.
ISBN 0-9638595-2-8. Cited as Trask 1998.
United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations (1978). House Select Committee Hearings and Appendices. United States
Government Printing Oce via History Matters.
Cited as HSCA 1978.
Multimedia
Journalists Remember JFK Assassination (video)
(television broadcast of Reporters Remember 11-2263). C-SPAN. November 20, 1993. Retrieved
March 18, 2014. Cited as Journalists Remember
1993.
Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? (video). Frontline
(investigative biography). PBS. November 16,
1993. Retrieved November 18, 2016. Cited as
Frontline 1993.

Further reading
The Presidents Commission on the Assassination of
President Kennedy (Warren Commission) (1964).
Testimony of James W. Altgens. Warren Commission Hearings (WCH). VII. United States Government Printing Oce. pp. 51525.

External links
AP Explore: JFK Assassination 50th anniversary
(Associated Pressincludes images of Altgens
original AP bulletin with handwritten notes)
JFK Remembered: That Awful Day (Abilene
Reporter-Newsincludes images by and of Altgens,
and a 2013 snapshot of his initial AP bulletin)
Records of the John F. Kennedy Assassination Collection: Key Persons Files: Altgens, James W.
(National Archives and Records Administration)

EXTERNAL LINKS

10

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

10.1

Text

Ike Altgens Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike_Altgens?oldid=754720532 Contributors: JDG, WhisperToMe, Tpbradbury,

Caknuck, Walloon, MistToys, Bender235, Darwinek, FeanorStar7, Stefanomione, BD2412, David Levy, Rjwilmsi, Ligulem, SNIyer12,
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Dr pda, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, John, Mr Stephen, CmdrObot, Location, Chicheley, Cydebot, Kozuch, MER-C, Awien, Acroterion, Redtigerxyz, GimmeBot, Helpper, ATS, Lightmouse, Randy Kryn, P. S. Burton, Merrieman, Londonclanger, Kbdankbot, Addbot, AndersBot, Tassedethe, Legobot, Yobot, Yngvadottir, AnomieBOT, Materialscientist, Citation bot, Cliftonian, DrippingGoss,
Gloverepp, Lightlowemon, Sarastro1, H3llBot, HandsomeFella, Frietjes, MrBill3, Lingzhi, TFA Protector Bot, Vycl1994, AnotherTinySliver, Monkbot, BeatlesVox, Sunmist, FACBot, KasparBot, MB298, MusikBot, My Chemistry romantic, Srednuas Lenoroc, Dilidor, Modulus12, 55378008a, Cheeseskates, GreenC bot, RSTech1, Bender the Bot, Quinton Feldberg and Anonymous: 31

10.2

Images

File:A_coloured_voting_box.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/A_coloured_voting_box.svg License: Cc-bysa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

File:Altgens1970s.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Altgens1970s.jpg License: CC BY 4.0 Contributors: The Estate of James W. Ike Altgens via Ronald E. Grant Original artist: Donald C. Clint Grant
File:Altgens6.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/Altgens6.jpg License: Fair use Contributors: Original
publication: Associated Press
Image link: http://www.jfkassassinationgallery.com/displayimage.php?pid=6273&fullsize=1 (gallery compiled by Robin Unger) Original
artist: James W. Ike Altgens
Associated Press
File:Altgens6_blowup.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2b/Altgens6_blowup.jpg License: Fair use Contributors:
Original publication: Associated Press
Immediate source: Photo Slideshow: JFK in the Fifties, Sixties and the Assassination of the President
Image link: http://www.post-gazette.com/image/2013/11/22/JFK-That-Awful-Day.jpg Original artist: James W. Ike Altgens
Associated Press
File:Altgens7.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cf/Altgens7.jpg License: Fair use Contributors: Original
publication: Associated Press
Immediate source: http://jfk-archives.blogspot.com/2011/05/james-altgens.html
Image link: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pBXjAwR94KA/TZPWbqRpNiI/AAAAAAAATrY/D1cziFZmsc8/s530/Altgens+(Large).jpg
(crop) Original artist: James W. Ike Altgens
Associated Press
File:Downtown_Dallas_from_the_Trinity_River.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Downtown_
Dallas_from_the_Trinity_River.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: Downtown Dallas from the Trinity River Original artist:
nthomas76207
File:Flowerpowerportfolio.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Flowerpowerportfolio.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Rightleftright
File:Large_format_camera_lens.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Large_format_camera_lens.png
License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Newspaper_nicu_buculei_01.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Newspaper_nicu_buculei_01.
svg License: CC0 Contributors: OpenClipart Original artist: nicu buculei
File:P_history.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/P_history.svg License: Public domain Contributors:
Own work Original artist: User:Kontos
File:P_vip.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/P_vip.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Texas_flag_map.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Texas_flag_map.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Self-made image, based on PD image File:Flag_of_Texas.svg and CC-BY-SA/GFDL image File:Flag-map of Texas.svg.
Original artist: AnonMoos based on image by Darwinek

10.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0