Last year I found out about Lee Harvey Oswald’s coffin being auction. Today, I read that the hearse that moved President John F. Kennedy’s body from the emergency room at Parkland Hospital to Air Force One at Dallas Love Field is now up for auction.

The hearse, a white / green 1964 Cadillac, will be auctioned by Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale, Az. this Saturday, January 21, 2012. The owner claims to have all the proper documentation to prove this is the Kennedy hearse used in Dallas.

This is extremely short notice for me and my JFK book project. I don’t have the means or the time to hop a flight to Arizona this weekend.

Fortunately, I know a stock photographer in the neighborhood who might be able to help, my mother. I can easily overnight a Holga and some film to her for the few shots I need.

I hope this works out. Cheers.

UPDATE 2012-01-17

I have since talked to my mother in Avondale, Arizona. She has agreed to photograph the JFK hearse for my book project.

At first I was going to overnight a Holga to her, but she has a local store that sells Holga cameras and 120 film. That saves shipping and time.

Now comes the hard part. I have to give my mother directions on how to use a Holga camera and get good results. She is no stranger behind a lens, but this will be her first attempt at shooting with a Holga.

I did send here a link to Freestyle Photographic Supplies’ famous Holga manual. I get one with every Holga. If you ever want to know more about Holga cameras, I suggest starting with this manual.

The most important tip I can give her is to make sure the shutter setting under the lens is set to N for normal, not B for bulb or blurry. This little switch will ruin a roll of film.

Wish us luck. Cheers.

UPDATE 2012-01-21

The JFK hearse sold for $160,000 at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. From what I read, the owner was looking for something closer to $1 million. Looks like it fell a little short of their goal.

UPDATE 2012-02-01

I received the film from my mother last week. I dropped the film off at BWC Creative in Richardson, Texas, on Monday. I will have negatives back this Thursday.

I have a long list of items to photograph while I am in D.C. Below is a list of my photographic agenda:

• Arlington National Cemetery
• President John F. Kennedy
• First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis
• Robert Kennedy, U. S. Attorney General
• Senator Edward Kennedy
• Col. James Swindal, Air Force One pilot
• Cecil W. Stoughton, White House photographer
• Evelyn Norton Lincoln, president’s personal secretary
• Dr. George Burkley, president’s physician
• Malcolm MacGregor Kilduff, White House Spokesman
• Arthur Goldberg, Secretary of Labor
• Marriman Smith, United Press International
• Justice Early Warren, Warren Commission
• Senator John Sherman Cooper, Warren Commission
• Stephen John Roman, my grandfather
• Congressional Cemetery
• J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director
• Congressman Hale Boggs Jr., Warren Commission
• White House
• East Room where President Kennedy lay in repose
• U.S. Capitol Building
• Capitol Rotunda where President Kennedy lay in state
• U.S. National Archives
• They have Mrs. Kennedy’s pink wool suit, remember
• National Museum of American History
• Lee Harvey Oswald’s rifle
• Georgetown
• The residence where Mrs. Kennedy stayed after leaving the White House
• Martin Luther King Memorial
• Ford’s Theater
• Madame Tussauds
• President Kennedy and Johnson wax figures
• They have Jacqueline Kennedy in the pink wool suit! Score!

I’ll be spending a day at Arlington National Cemetery all by myself. My wife has promised to go shopping while I am busy photographing history. I hope she does not spend too much.

I previously visited Washington, D.C. and Arlington National Cemetery in the 1990s.

My first visit was for my grandfather’s funeral. My grandfather made a career out of the Air Force serving in World War II and a couple of other skirmishes. It was a beautiful service with a horse-drawn carriage and a twenty-one gun salute. Too bad I was not into Holgas then.

My second trip was with my grandmother. She used to live in D.C. with my grandfather. I though she would be a good tour guide, but she was just as lost as I was. Oh well, we had a good time anyway.

Let me know if I need to send you a post card. Cheers.