en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapruder_film
2 corrections found
The physical Zapruder film was automatically designated an "assassination record" and therefore became the official property of the U.S. government.
The 1992 JFK Records Act did not immediately make the Zapruder film U.S. government property. Official records say the Zapruder family still held legal ownership after the Act, and the film was transferred to the JFK Collection effective August 1, 1998.
Full reasoning
Official National Archives records contradict the claim that the 1992 Act itself made the original film government property.
The Assassination Records Review Board's final report says that when Congress passed the JFK Act, legal ownership was still retained by the Zapruder family. It further explains that NARA, the Review Board, and the Justice Department later had to determine whether the government could acquire the film, and that the Review Board in 1997 resolved to secure legal ownership for the American people. The same report states that the transfer of the original Zapruder film to the JFK Collection was effective August 1, 1998.
So while the film ultimately became part of the JFK Collection, the historical record does not support the statement that it automatically became official U.S. government property in 1992 merely because the Act was passed.
2 sources
- Assassination Records Review Board Final Report
"At the time that Congress passed the JFK Act ... Legal ownership of the film, however, was still retained by the Zapruder family." The report adds that NARA and DOJ later sought to clarify "whether the U.S. government could legally acquire the original film."
- ARRB Final Report, Chapter 6, Part 2
The Review Board resolved in 1997 that the original film be transferred to the JFK Collection on August 1, 1998, and the report states: "The transfer of the original Zapruder film to the JFK Collection was effective August 1, 1998."
That in turn contributed to the Church Committee probe of U.S. intelligence agency abuses, and ultimately resulted in the House Select Committee on Assassinations in the late 1970s.
This reverses the timeline. The Church Committee was created on January 27, 1975, before the March 6, 1975 TV broadcast, and the Hart-Schweiker JFK inquiry was part of the Church Committee’s work—not something that led to it.
Full reasoning
The chronology here is backwards.
The U.S. Senate's official history page states that the Church Committee's resolution passed on January 27, 1975. That is before the March 6, 1975 broadcast of the Zapruder film discussed in the article. So the later Hart-Schweiker JFK inquiry could not have "contributed to" the formation of the Church Committee probe.
Official Senate materials also show that the JFK investigation associated with Senators Gary Hart and Richard Schweiker was within the Church Committee's work: the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's resources page lists "Book V, The Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Performance of the Intelligence Agencies" as part of the Church Committee's final report. And the National Archives' introduction to the House Select Committee on Assassinations says the later House committee drew substantial impetus from the Senate select committee's report.
In short: the Church Committee came first; the Hart-Schweiker JFK investigation was a component of that broader Senate inquiry; and the later House assassination committee followed afterward.
3 sources
- U.S. Senate: Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (Church Committee)
The Senate's official page lists the Church Committee with "Resolution passed: Jan 27, 1975" and names both Gary Hart and Richard Schweiker as committee members.
- Intelligence Related Commissions | Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The official Senate Intelligence Committee page lists "Book V, The Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Performance of the Intelligence Agencies" as part of the Church Committee's final report.
- Introduction | National Archives
The National Archives states: "Substantial impetus for the creation of a select committee to investigate these assassinations was derived from revelations in the report of the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities..."