Ike Altgens
Encyclopedia
James William "Ike" Altgens (April 28, 1919 – December 12, 1995) was an American
photographer
and field reporter
for the Associated Press
. Based in Dallas
, Texas
, in 1963, Altgens took arguably the most famous photograph of the in-progress assassination of President John F. Kennedy
—a snapshot that led to a years-long debate among researchers over whether accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
is visible in Dealey Plaza
as the shots were fired.
Altgens spent more than 40 years with the AP, then did advertising work until he retired altogether. Both Altgens and his wife were in their seventies when they died in 1995, at about the same time, in their Dallas home.
, he was hired by the Associated Press. The 19-year-old began his career by doing odd jobs and writing the occasional sports story; by 1940, he had demonstrated an aptitude for photography and was assigned to work in the wirephoto office.
His career was interrupted when he served in the United States Coast Guard
during World War II
; still, he managed to moonlight as a radio
broadcaster
. Following his return to Dallas, he married Clara B. Halliburton in July 1944, and returned to work with the AP the following year. He also attended night classes at Southern Methodist University
, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree
in speech with a minor in journalism.
By 1959, Altgens had enjoyed some success as an actor
and model
in television
and print advertising
. He portrayed the US
Secretary of State
in the low-budget film Beyond the Time Barrier, uttering its final line of dialogue
: "That's a lot to think about!"
that would take President Kennedy from Love Field to the Dallas Trade Mart
, where Kennedy was scheduled to deliver an address. Working that day as the photo editor, Altgens asked instead to go to the railroad overcrossing known to locals as the "triple overpass" or "triple underpass" (where Elm, Main and Commerce Streets converge) to take pictures. Since that was not originally his assignment, Altgens took his personal camera, a 35 mm Nikkorex-F
single-lens-reflex camera with a 105 mm telephoto lens, rather than the motor-driven camera usually used for news events. "This meant that what I took, I had to make sure it was good—I didn't have time for second chances."
Altgens later told investigators for the Warren Commission
that he was denied access to the overcrossing by uniformed officers; he took up a position in Dealey Plaza instead. Though he took seven snapshots altogether, Altgens described to Commissioners only the photographs that were published; of those three, the first came as the Presidential limousine
turned from Main Street onto Houston Street. Afterwards, he ran across the grass, roughly east to west, toward the south curb along Elm Street, and stopped across from the Plaza's north colonnade. As he snapped his first photograph from that spot, he heard a "burst of noise [that] he thought was firecrackers." Kennedy had just begun to react, thrusting his hands toward his throat; Jackie Kennedy
's gloved left hand could be seen through the windshield, holding her husband's left arm.
Just as Altgens was preparing for a second snapshot along Elm Street, he heard a blast that he recognized as gunfire and saw the President had been struck in the head. "I had pre-focused, had my hand on the trigger, but when JFK's head exploded, sending substance in my direction, I virtually became paralyzed," Altgens later told author Richard B. Trask. "This was such a shock to me that I never did press the trigger on the camera.
"[T]o have a President shot to death right in front of you," Altgens continued, "and keep your cool and do what you're supposed to do—I'm not real sure that the most seasoned photographers would be able to do it." Still, he said, "there is no excuse for this. I should have made the picture that I was set up to make. And I didn't do it."
Seconds later, Altgens had recovered enough to take his final picture of the limousine—showing the First Lady
on the vehicle's trunk as Secret Service
agent Clint Hill
was climbing on behind her—as the driver had begun to speed away toward Parkland Memorial Hospital
. Hill later told the Warren Commission that Jackie Kennedy appeared to be "reaching for something coming off the right rear bumper" of the limousine—described later as pieces of her husband's head—though Mrs. Kennedy's testimony suggested that she saw Altgens' photograph (or the corresponding still picture made from the Zapruder film
) showing "me climbing out the back. But I don't remember that at all."
Very interestingly, Altgens (standing to President Kennedy’s left and front when his head first exploded) stated during his Warren Commission testimony, "I wasn't keeping track of the number of pops that took place, but 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." Altgens further stated to author Richard Trask (in Trask's book, "Pictures of the Pain") that pieces of President Kennedy's head landed near his feet. Altgens also stated to attorney and author Mark Lane (in Lane's best selling book, “Rush to Judgment”) that shortly before the limousine arrived inside the Dealey Plaza kill zone, Altgens observed several persons arrive up into the grassy knoll near the picket fence, and that one of these persons that Altgens distinctly observed was dressed in a uniform as a Dallas policeman: No policeman was, ever, officially ordered before, nor pre-stationed before, nor admitted to afterwards as, ever, being stationed near or on the grassy knoll.
Altgens testified that after the shots ended he followed officers and spectators up the grassy knoll on the north side of Elm Street. "I wanted to come over and get a picture of the guy—if they had such a person in custody." When they came back without a suspect, Altgens then ran to a telephone to report the shooting, and hurried back to the AP offices in the Dallas News Building on Houston Street to file his report and develop the film. His first phone call, from the AP wirephoto office to the news office, led to one of the first bulletins sent to the world:
frame 255 from the front and to the left of the Presidential limousine after Altgens had briefly walked out into the southernmost street lane while the shots were still being fired. Kennedy can be seen with his arms akimbo
and his hands near his throat, apparently reacting to a shot fired by an assassin. Secret Service agents in the car a short distance behind the limousine reacted differently to the sound; at least three are facing towards the front possibly looking at the President, Kennedy friend and aide David Powers
is facing towards the front possibly looking at the President, one agent is facing towards the front possibly looking at the onlookers on the north side of Elm Street, and two agents have turned rearward and are facing behind themselves, to their right-rear.
Several people can be seen standing in the main doorway to the Depository; one man bore a striking resemblance to Oswald. His presence there should have been impossible because, according to official investigations, he was on the building's sixth floor, firing bullets at Kennedy from a Mannlicher-Carcano
rifle (Oswald claimed he was in the second-floor lunchroom, where he was spotted moments later by a Dallas Police officer). The Warren Commission paid careful attention to the image, as did private researchers: if the man was not Oswald, it did not necessarily prove nor disprove that Oswald was the assassin; if, however, the man was Oswald, here was photographic proof that he did not kill Kennedy.
A second Depository employee, Billy Lovelady, identified himself standing in the picture, and other employees who had been nearby agreed; a supervisor, however, signed an affidavit stating that Lovelady was "seated on the entrance steps". Ultimately, the Commission decided that Oswald was not in the doorway. That conclusion was bolstered several years later when photographs taken by a researcher of Lovelady, wearing what he said was the same shirt, appeared to match the image in the Altgens photograph (Oswald—who also claimed to have been outside having lunch with his supervisor, according to a police Captain's notes written "several days" after the interrogation—had been photographed wearing a similar shirt inside the Dallas Police station). In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations
also identified Lovelady after studying an enhanced version of the Altgens photograph and several amateur films. If that didn't clinch it, there is the famous newsreel film of Oswald being escorted down the hallway in Dallas Police headquarters. Asked whether he was in the "building" (the Depository) at the time of the shooting he replied "I work in that building. . . . Naturally if I work in that building, yes sir." Ten years later, Texas journalist Jim Marrs wrote, "[m]ost researchers today are ready to concede that the man may have been Lovelady."
Also of note in Altgen's famous image is the Dal-Tex Building
, visible with its white fire escape in the far background of the photo. At least one of the prominent JFK conspiracy theories
suggest there was a gunman in this building and/or on its roof, which, as can clearly be seen in this photograph, afforded an unobstructed view of the president's motorcade.
from the AP in 1979 after more than 40 years, rather than accept a transfer to a different bureau. He spent his later years working on display advertising for the Ford Motor Company
, and was often contacted for interviews by assassination researchers who found him "polite and affable". Through all the telephone calls and letters, no one ever convinced him that the Warren Commission's conclusion—that Oswald, acting alone, killed Kennedy—could be wrong. "Until those people come up with solid evidence to support their claims," he told Trask, "I see no value in wasting my time with them." Still, he conceded, "there will always be some controversy about details surrounding the site and shooting of the President."
Oliver Stone
's 1991 film JFK
rekindled that controversy by reenacting the assassination, in Dealey Plaza, using actors as the victims and witnesses. Altgens was portrayed by Dallas-area actor John Depew.
By 1995, both Altgens and his wife were in declining health; their nephew, Dallas attorney Ron Grant, told the Houston Chronicle
that his Aunt Clara "had been very ill for some time with heart trouble and many other problems. Both of them had had the flu for some time." On December 12, Ike and Clara Altgens were found dead in separate rooms in their home in Dallas. In addition to their failing health, police believed carbon monoxide
poison
ing from a faulty furnace
might have played a role in their deaths. "With Mr. Altgens' passing," researcher Brad Parker wrote, "not only did history lose another witness, but many of us lost a valued friend."
Demographics of the United States
As of today's date, the United States has a total resident population of , making it the third most populous country in the world. It is a very urbanized population, with 82% residing in cities and suburbs as of 2008 . This leaves vast expanses of the country nearly uninhabited...
photographer
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...
and field reporter
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
for the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. Based in Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, in 1963, Altgens took arguably the most famous photograph of the in-progress assassination of President John F. Kennedy
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
—a snapshot that led to a years-long debate among researchers over whether accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
is visible in Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza , in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas , is the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
as the shots were fired.
Altgens spent more than 40 years with the AP, then did advertising work until he retired altogether. Both Altgens and his wife were in their seventies when they died in 1995, at about the same time, in their Dallas home.
Early life
Dallas native Ike Altgens was orphaned at a very young age and was raised by an aunt. In 1938, shortly after his graduation from North Dallas High SchoolNorth Dallas High School
North Dallas High School is a public secondary school located in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas, Texas, .North Dallas enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District...
, he was hired by the Associated Press. The 19-year-old began his career by doing odd jobs and writing the occasional sports story; by 1940, he had demonstrated an aptitude for photography and was assigned to work in the wirephoto office.
His career was interrupted when he served in the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; still, he managed to moonlight as a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcaster
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
. Following his return to Dallas, he married Clara B. Halliburton in July 1944, and returned to work with the AP the following year. He also attended night classes at Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in speech with a minor in journalism.
By 1959, Altgens had enjoyed some success as an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
in television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and print advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
. He portrayed the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
in the low-budget film Beyond the Time Barrier, uttering its final line of dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
: "That's a lot to think about!"
JFK assassination
Altgens had been employed by the AP for nearly 26 years when he was assigned on November 22, 1963, to photograph the motorcadeMotorcade
A motorcade is a procession of vehicles. The term motorcade was coined by Lyle Abbot , and is formed after cavalcade on the false notion that "-cade" was a suffix meaning "procession"...
that would take President Kennedy from Love Field to the Dallas Trade Mart
Dallas Market Center
Dallas Market Center, located along Stemmons Freeway in Dallas, Texas , sits on of land and spans more than . Dallas Market Center is the international home of the lighting industry, a leader in home décor and the national home of the floral and Christmas industries.- The campus :The...
, where Kennedy was scheduled to deliver an address. Working that day as the photo editor, Altgens asked instead to go to the railroad overcrossing known to locals as the "triple overpass" or "triple underpass" (where Elm, Main and Commerce Streets converge) to take pictures. Since that was not originally his assignment, Altgens took his personal camera, a 35 mm Nikkorex-F
Nikon
, also known as just Nikon, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which...
single-lens-reflex camera with a 105 mm telephoto lens, rather than the motor-driven camera usually used for news events. "This meant that what I took, I had to make sure it was good—I didn't have time for second chances."
Altgens later told investigators for the Warren Commission
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
that he was denied access to the overcrossing by uniformed officers; he took up a position in Dealey Plaza instead. Though he took seven snapshots altogether, Altgens described to Commissioners only the photographs that were published; of those three, the first came as the Presidential limousine
Limousine
A limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or white....
turned from Main Street onto Houston Street. Afterwards, he ran across the grass, roughly east to west, toward the south curb along Elm Street, and stopped across from the Plaza's north colonnade. As he snapped his first photograph from that spot, he heard a "burst of noise [that] he thought was firecrackers." Kennedy had just begun to react, thrusting his hands toward his throat; Jackie Kennedy
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
's gloved left hand could be seen through the windshield, holding her husband's left arm.
Just as Altgens was preparing for a second snapshot along Elm Street, he heard a blast that he recognized as gunfire and saw the President had been struck in the head. "I had pre-focused, had my hand on the trigger, but when JFK's head exploded, sending substance in my direction, I virtually became paralyzed," Altgens later told author Richard B. Trask. "This was such a shock to me that I never did press the trigger on the camera.
Seconds later, Altgens had recovered enough to take his final picture of the limousine—showing the First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
on the vehicle's trunk as Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
agent Clint Hill
Clint Hill
Clinton J. Hill is a former United States Secret Service agent who was in the presidential motorcade during the assassination of John F. Kennedy. After Kennedy was shot, Hill ran from the car immediately behind the presidential limousine and leapt onto the back of it, holding on while the car...
was climbing on behind her—as the driver had begun to speed away toward Parkland Memorial Hospital
Parkland Memorial Hospital
Parkland Memorial Hospital is a hospital located at 5201 Harry Hines Boulevard, just west of Oak Lawn in Dallas, Texas . It is the main hospital of the Dallas County Hospital District and serves as Dallas County's public hospital.- History :The original hospital opened in 1894 in a wooden...
. Hill later told the Warren Commission that Jackie Kennedy appeared to be "reaching for something coming off the right rear bumper" of the limousine—described later as pieces of her husband's head—though Mrs. Kennedy's testimony suggested that she saw Altgens' photograph (or the corresponding still picture made from the Zapruder film
Zapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
) showing "me climbing out the back. But I don't remember that at all."
Very interestingly, Altgens (standing to President Kennedy’s left and front when his head first exploded) stated during his Warren Commission testimony, "I wasn't keeping track of the number of pops that took place, but 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." Altgens further stated to author Richard Trask (in Trask's book, "Pictures of the Pain") that pieces of President Kennedy's head landed near his feet. Altgens also stated to attorney and author Mark Lane (in Lane's best selling book, “Rush to Judgment”) that shortly before the limousine arrived inside the Dealey Plaza kill zone, Altgens observed several persons arrive up into the grassy knoll near the picket fence, and that one of these persons that Altgens distinctly observed was dressed in a uniform as a Dallas policeman: No policeman was, ever, officially ordered before, nor pre-stationed before, nor admitted to afterwards as, ever, being stationed near or on the grassy knoll.
Altgens testified that after the shots ended he followed officers and spectators up the grassy knoll on the north side of Elm Street. "I wanted to come over and get a picture of the guy—if they had such a person in custody." When they came back without a suspect, Altgens then ran to a telephone to report the shooting, and hurried back to the AP offices in the Dallas News Building on Houston Street to file his report and develop the film. His first phone call, from the AP wirephoto office to the news office, led to one of the first bulletins sent to the world:
- 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.
Controversial photograph
Of the three Altgens photos published by the Associated Press, the first snapped along Elm Street would receive the most scrutiny: taken simultaneously with Zapruder filmZapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
frame 255 from the front and to the left of the Presidential limousine after Altgens had briefly walked out into the southernmost street lane while the shots were still being fired. Kennedy can be seen with his arms akimbo
Akimbo
Akimbo is a human body position in which the hands are on the hips and the elbows are bowed outward, or bent or bowed in a more general sense .-Origins:The term was recorded first in the English language around 1400 in The Tale of Beryn: "The hoost .....
and his hands near his throat, apparently reacting to a shot fired by an assassin. Secret Service agents in the car a short distance behind the limousine reacted differently to the sound; at least three are facing towards the front possibly looking at the President, Kennedy friend and aide David Powers
David Powers
David Francis Powers was Special Assistant and assistant Appointments Secretary to President of the United States John F. Kennedy. Powers served as Museum Curator of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum from 1964 until his retirement in May 1994. Powers was a military veteran who had served in...
is facing towards the front possibly looking at the President, one agent is facing towards the front possibly looking at the onlookers on the north side of Elm Street, and two agents have turned rearward and are facing behind themselves, to their right-rear.
Several people can be seen standing in the main doorway to the Depository; one man bore a striking resemblance to Oswald. His presence there should have been impossible because, according to official investigations, he was on the building's sixth floor, firing bullets at Kennedy from a Mannlicher-Carcano
Carcano
Carcano is the frequently used name for a series of Italian bolt-action military rifles and carbines. Introduced in 1891, this rifle was chambered for the rimless 6.5x52mm Mannlicher-Carcano Cartuccia Modello 1895 cartridge. It was developed by the chief technician Salvatore Carcano at the Turin...
rifle (Oswald claimed he was in the second-floor lunchroom, where he was spotted moments later by a Dallas Police officer). The Warren Commission paid careful attention to the image, as did private researchers: if the man was not Oswald, it did not necessarily prove nor disprove that Oswald was the assassin; if, however, the man was Oswald, here was photographic proof that he did not kill Kennedy.
A second Depository employee, Billy Lovelady, identified himself standing in the picture, and other employees who had been nearby agreed; a supervisor, however, signed an affidavit stating that Lovelady was "seated on the entrance steps". Ultimately, the Commission decided that Oswald was not in the doorway. That conclusion was bolstered several years later when photographs taken by a researcher of Lovelady, wearing what he said was the same shirt, appeared to match the image in the Altgens photograph (Oswald—who also claimed to have been outside having lunch with his supervisor, according to a police Captain's notes written "several days" after the interrogation—had been photographed wearing a similar shirt inside the Dallas Police station). In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations
United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations ' was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the shooting of Governor George Wallace. The Committee investigated until 1978, and in 1979 issued its final...
also identified Lovelady after studying an enhanced version of the Altgens photograph and several amateur films. If that didn't clinch it, there is the famous newsreel film of Oswald being escorted down the hallway in Dallas Police headquarters. Asked whether he was in the "building" (the Depository) at the time of the shooting he replied "I work in that building. . . . Naturally if I work in that building, yes sir." Ten years later, Texas journalist Jim Marrs wrote, "[m]ost researchers today are ready to concede that the man may have been Lovelady."
Also of note in Altgen's famous image is the Dal-Tex Building
Dal-Tex Building
The Dal-Tex Building is a seven story office building located at 501 Elm Street in downtown Dallas, Texas . Its location, within Dealey Plaza and it being across the street, adjacent to the Texas School Book Depository, has made it famous and put it at the center of several conspiracy theories...
, visible with its white fire escape in the far background of the photo. At least one of the prominent JFK conspiracy theories
John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories
There has long been suspicion of a government cover-up of information about the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. There are also numerous conspiracy theories regarding the assassination that arose soon after his death and continue to be promoted today...
suggest there was a gunman in this building and/or on its roof, which, as can clearly be seen in this photograph, afforded an unobstructed view of the president's motorcade.
Later life
Altgens retiredRetirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
from the AP in 1979 after more than 40 years, rather than accept a transfer to a different bureau. He spent his later years working on display advertising for the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, and was often contacted for interviews by assassination researchers who found him "polite and affable". Through all the telephone calls and letters, no one ever convinced him that the Warren Commission's conclusion—that Oswald, acting alone, killed Kennedy—could be wrong. "Until those people come up with solid evidence to support their claims," he told Trask, "I see no value in wasting my time with them." Still, he conceded, "there will always be some controversy about details surrounding the site and shooting of the President."
Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
's 1991 film JFK
JFK (film)
JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison .Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay...
rekindled that controversy by reenacting the assassination, in Dealey Plaza, using actors as the victims and witnesses. Altgens was portrayed by Dallas-area actor John Depew.
By 1995, both Altgens and his wife were in declining health; their nephew, Dallas attorney Ron Grant, told the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
that his Aunt Clara "had been very ill for some time with heart trouble and many other problems. Both of them had had the flu for some time." On December 12, Ike and Clara Altgens were found dead in separate rooms in their home in Dallas. In addition to their failing health, police believed carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
ing from a faulty furnace
Furnace
A furnace is a device used for heating. The name derives from Latin fornax, oven.In American English and Canadian English, the term furnace on its own is generally used to describe household heating systems based on a central furnace , and sometimes as a synonym for kiln, a device used in the...
might have played a role in their deaths. "With Mr. Altgens' passing," researcher Brad Parker wrote, "not only did history lose another witness, but many of us lost a valued friend."
See also
- Abraham ZapruderAbraham ZapruderAbraham Zapruder was an American manufacturer of women's clothing. He was filming with a home-movie camera as U.S. President John F...
- James M. ChaneyJames M. ChaneyJames M. Chaney was a witness and Dallas police motorcycle presidential escort riding only ten to fifteen feet away from President John F. Kennedy during his assassination on November 22, 1963 within Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. He is not to be confused with James E...
- Mary MoormanMary MoormanMary Ann Moorman was a witness to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. She is best known for her photograph capturing the presidential limousine a fraction of a second after the fatal shot.-Biography:...
Further reading
- Altgens' testimony to the Warren Commission (Exhibit No. 1407)
- That Day in Dallas: Three Photographers Capture on Film the Day President Kennedy Died (Trask, Richard B., 1998, Yeoman Press)