Live from Dealey Plaza

(Dallas) -- The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza has placed a live Internet camera in the southeast corner window on the sixth floor of the former Texas School Book Depository. This is the location of the so-called "sniper's nest" discovered on November 22, 1963 after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The Dealey Plaza Cam can be found on The Sixth Floor Museum's website, www.jfk.org.

The Dealey Plaza Cam will webcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It allows Internet users the only live view available in the world from this point of view. The stacked cartons have been recreated on the sixth floor of the Museum and are protected by a glass enclosure.

"We receive numerous requests for access for the view of Dealey Plaza from the sniper's perch. The installation of this camera affords us the opportunity to honor those requests without disrupting the solemnity of the museum experience," said Jeff West, the Executive Director of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., younger brother of the slain president, criticized the placement of the camera overlooking Dealey Plaza. A spokeswoman for Kennedy said, "It is unfortunate that their [museum] is now being undermined in this insensitive and tasteless manner."

West said he was "surprised and disappointed" by those comments.

The automated Earthcam Internet Camera System pans and zooms to capture multiple, high quality, frequently updating live images of the Dealey Plaza National Historic Landmark District and portions of downtown Dallas. It provides a current view of Dealey Plaza and other historic sites in the Historic Landmark District.

Annually, some 450,000 visitors tour the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which chronicles the assassination and legacy of John F. Kennedy. The museum has been visited by over 4 million people since it opened on President's Day in February of 1989.

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