Marilyn Sitzman
Encyclopedia
Marilyn Sitzman was a witness to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy
in Dallas, Texas
on November 22, 1963. She was with her boss, Abraham Zapruder
, as he made the Zapruder film
, the most studied record of the assassination.
Zapruder's clothing company, Jennifer Juniors, was one block from Dealey Plaza
, through which the presidential motorcade would be passing on November 22. When Zapruder arrived at work that morning without his 8 mm
movie camera, his secretary Lillian Rogers encouraged him to go home to retrieve it. Zapruder, with Sitzman his receptionist standing behind him to steady him, filmed the presidential motorcade as both were standing on a 4-foot (1.2 m) high pedestal which extends from a retaining wall that was part of the John Neely Bryan
concrete pergola
on the grassy knoll north of Elm Street, in Dealey Plaza. The fatal head shot struck President Kennedy as his limousine passed almost directly in front of their position, 65 feet (20 m) from the center of Elm Street.
Sitzman; Emmett Hudson
, who was standing on a stairway going up the grassy knoll; and Charles Hester, who was sitting on a bench in the pergola; were the only witnesses on the knoll who are on record about the direction of the shots they heard. All three said the shots came from the direction of the Texas School Book Depository
. Sitzman rejected the theory that one or more shots came from behind the 5-foot (1.5 m) high stockade fence atop the knoll:
Between Sitzman and the stockade fence was a 3.3-foot (1 m) high, L-shaped concrete alcove along the path from the stairway up the knoll to the area behind the pergola. Some assassination researchers, studying vague shapes in a photograph taken by Mary Moorman
from across the street just after the fatal head shot, saw the so-called "badge man
" aiming a rifle from this area. Another person, Gordon Arnold
, came forth in 1978 to claim that he had been standing in that area taking a film of the motorcade.
However, in a long-forgotten interview with researcher Josiah Thompson from 1966, rediscovered in 1985, Sitzman gave eyewitness testimony to who was in the alcove below her and about nine yards (8.2 m) to her right: a young black couple was sitting on a bench, eating lunch and drinking sodas. When the shots rang out, the couple ran along the path to the area behind the pergola. Sitzman recalled hearing a soda bottle breaking as they ran. Asked if she saw anyone else in this area between the concrete wall and the stockade fence, Sitzman said no, only the couple.
Sitzman attended the University of Colorado at Boulder
before moving to Dallas. She died of cancer at age 53.
John F. Kennedy assassination
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...
in Dallas, Texas
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...
on November 22, 1963. She was with her boss, Abraham Zapruder
Abraham Zapruder
Abraham Zapruder was an American manufacturer of women's clothing. He was filming with a home-movie camera as U.S. President John F...
, as he made 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...
, the most studied record of the assassination.
Zapruder's clothing company, Jennifer Juniors, was one block from 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...
, through which the presidential motorcade would be passing on November 22. When Zapruder arrived at work that morning without his 8 mm
8 mm film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
movie camera, his secretary Lillian Rogers encouraged him to go home to retrieve it. Zapruder, with Sitzman his receptionist standing behind him to steady him, filmed the presidential motorcade as both were standing on a 4-foot (1.2 m) high pedestal which extends from a retaining wall that was part of the John Neely Bryan
John Neely Bryan
John Neely Bryan was a Presbyterian farmer, lawyer, and tradesman in the United States and founder of the city of Dallas, Texas.- Early life :...
concrete pergola
Pergola
A pergola, arbor or arbour is a garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained...
on the grassy knoll north of Elm Street, in Dealey Plaza. The fatal head shot struck President Kennedy as his limousine passed almost directly in front of their position, 65 feet (20 m) from the center of Elm Street.
Sitzman; Emmett Hudson
Emmett Hudson
Emmett Joseph Hudson was a witness to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on 22 November 1963....
, who was standing on a stairway going up the grassy knoll; and Charles Hester, who was sitting on a bench in the pergola; were the only witnesses on the knoll who are on record about the direction of the shots they heard. All three said the shots came from the direction of the Texas School Book Depository
Texas School Book Depository
The Texas School Book Depository is the former name of a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas . Located on the northwest corner of Elm and North Houston Streets, at the western end of downtown Dallas, its address is 411 Elm Street. The building is notable for its connection to...
. Sitzman rejected the theory that one or more shots came from behind the 5-foot (1.5 m) high stockade fence atop the knoll:
Between Sitzman and the stockade fence was a 3.3-foot (1 m) high, L-shaped concrete alcove along the path from the stairway up the knoll to the area behind the pergola. Some assassination researchers, studying vague shapes in a photograph taken by Mary Moorman
Mary Moorman
Mary 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:...
from across the street just after the fatal head shot, saw the so-called "badge man
Badge man
Badge Man is the name given to a photographic image that some President John F. Kennedy assassination researchers claim is a grassy knoll assassin seen within a Polaroid photograph that close witness Mary Moorman captured on November 22, 1963 within Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas...
" aiming a rifle from this area. Another person, Gordon Arnold
Gordon Arnold
Gordon L Arnold is a man who claimed to have witnessed the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.Arnold served twelve years in the United States Army, after enlisting in 1963...
, came forth in 1978 to claim that he had been standing in that area taking a film of the motorcade.
However, in a long-forgotten interview with researcher Josiah Thompson from 1966, rediscovered in 1985, Sitzman gave eyewitness testimony to who was in the alcove below her and about nine yards (8.2 m) to her right: a young black couple was sitting on a bench, eating lunch and drinking sodas. When the shots rang out, the couple ran along the path to the area behind the pergola. Sitzman recalled hearing a soda bottle breaking as they ran. Asked if she saw anyone else in this area between the concrete wall and the stockade fence, Sitzman said no, only the couple.
Sitzman attended the University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
before moving to Dallas. She died of cancer at age 53.
External links
- Marilyn Sitzman reenacts her position for LIFE magazine.
- Marilyn Sitzman on the set of JFK in 1991.
- Roberdeau map of Dealey Plaza.
- View of stockade fence from Sitzman's position.
- Martin Shackelford, R.I.P.: The Black Dog Man. Includes quotes from a 1992 interview with Sitzman.
