The 60s Official Site
THE ZAPRUDER EFFECTBy Eva Pasco
windows rolled down, inching through Dealy Plaza, Elm St.,
Texas, on November 22, 1963; filmed by private citizen, Abraham Zapruder, it is the most complete visual
recording of JFK's assassination, signifying the end of a
mythical Camelot.
JFK's assassination and the sequence of events to follow would
leave imprints in our minds impervious to heat, moisture, or chemical
breakdown--the Zapruder
Effect. Jackie's pink suit, her stately composure,
John John's salute, and the cadence of the funeral procession are part of our repertoire,
though the real Zapruder reel is that of the 8 mm chronology played out for each of us old
enough to recall that ill-fated day in history --our own "grassy knoll," if you
will.
In 1963 I was a seventh grader at Lincoln Junior
High. Last period of the day, right up until dismissal, would capture footage of me in Social
Studies. I sat in the third seat of the second row from the window flanked by Martha in front
of me, Nancy to my left, Lois to my right, and Kay behind me. Before class officially started, we'd
trade gossip and pass jokes to insulate us from the regimen and rigors perpertrated by a teacher who
must have laid claim to OCDs. Mr. B made sure our rows were aligned before initiating instruction
and during lessons, often stopping mid-sentence to correct any misalignment in the aisles.
He'd frequently adjust his tie, clear his throat, and smooth the lone strand of hair over his bald
pate in no particular order. By rote, each of us read a paragraph from our history books,
followed by discussion and discourse.
12:30 CST, 1:30 EST in Rhode Island: a shot was fired at JFK's
limousine. Shortly thereafter, our principal made an announcment over the PA system which created a
shock wave in the classroom and visibly upset Mr. B...
Dismissal occured at 2:15, and I boarded my bus
as usual. Si, our bus driver, a regular no-hassle, go-with-the-flow sorta
guy, tuned his radio to rock n' roll, talked chicks with the guys, tolerated loudness,
and permitted smoking in his caboose. He could get tough when he needed to and no one gave him any
guff. The bus rolled past the junior high, made it through the redlight at the cross section, and crawled
along Great Road.
1:00 CST, 2:00 EST: Assistant Presidential Press Secretary,
Malcolm Kilduff made his press announcement. "President John F. Kennedy died at
approximately 1 p.m. Central Standard Time today here in Dallas. He died of a gunshot wound in the brain. I
have no other details of the assassination."
I remember Si pulling the bus over to the side of the narrow,
rural, country bumpkin thoroughfare of Great Road. Bare bony tree branches scraped along the
windows until the bus came to a halt. Si, got out of his seat, adopted the
uncharacteristic persona of a parson, signalled for silence and got it quick. Without ceremony, the
man at the helm announced that President Kennedy had just died and we'd all better say a
prayer.
The tragic event that felled a president only two years
in office would scar the Kennedy family and shake America to its core. This political
assassination created its own Zapruder effect as each of us bowed our
heads in silence, for who knows, maybe 26 seconds...enough time to replay the surreal events of
November 22, 1963 from the perspective of a twelve year old, forever preserved in the archives of my
mind.
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