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Press Release
Press Release · Tuesday, November 3, 1998

Press Release November 3, 1998
National Archives Opens Kodak Reports and Materials from the Assassination Records Review Board

College Park, MD. . . On Monday, November 9, 1998, at 9 A.M. in Lecture Rooms D & E, the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park will make available to the public two reports from the Kodak Co. relating to autopsy photographs and the Zapruder film; the records relating to the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB), which closed on September 30, 1998; and miscellaneous FBI and NSC materials.

The ARRB was established by the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 to ensure that all materials relating to the assassination of President Kennedy would be identified and turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration. The Board, which was an independent agency, consisted of five private citizens who were authorized by the U.S. Congress to decide what constituted a JFK record and whether classified materials could be released. Only the President could overrule its decisions.

The ARRB materials to be released include seven series of records consisting of approximately 400,000 pages. Among them are: files relating to Open Board Meetings; General Counsel Files and Ethics Files; Subject Files; Press and Public Contact Files; Issues Files; Chronological Files; and Congressional Files. Staff files relating to CIA issues, medical and photographic evidence, FBI documents and portions of files from the Executive Director and the General Counsel will be opened.

Due to privacy issues, two other series of ARRB records relating to administrative and investigative files will not be available at the November 9 opening. They will be opened at a later date.

Kodak Report on the Enhancement of Autopsy Materials -The Assassination Records Review Board asked the Eastman Kodak Company to digitally scan and enhance, where possible, selected autopsy images of John K. Kennedy. This work was performed by Kodak's Imaging Science Resources Laboratory. The report details the work necessary to provide the digitized and hardcopy images. There are also two notebooks of technical notes taken during the process. A third notebook contains notes taken during an examination of the autopsy X-rays. The X-rays were not scanned and digitized. (The autopsy photographs and X-rays are not reproduced in the report.)

Kodak Report on the Zapruder Film: The Assassination Records Review Board identified the need for an assessment of questions regarding the photographic evidence of the Kennedy assassination, including the Zapruder film. The report addresses the age of these films and the camera and printer hardware used to capture the original and derivative copies.

Miscellaneous files: FBI files on subjects of interest to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, including main files relating to James P. Hosty, Jr., and miscellaneous documents relating to James Angleton (concerning his role as an FBI informant), and William C. Sullivan (documents detailing the results of the investigative deficiencies in the Oswald case), as well as documents from J. Edgar Hoover's O & C files relating to various subjects, including John F. Kennedy are among the materials to be released. Also available at the opening will be records of the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress and miscellaneous files from the Director of the CIA John McCone relating to meetings with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, 1963-64.

The National Archives at College Park is located at 8601 Adelphi Road. Free parking is available. Clean search room rules will be in effect. Personal property ( notebooks, briefcases, purses or fountain pens) is not allowed in the lecture rooms. Lockers are available.

For additional PRESS information, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (301) 837-1700 or by e-mail.

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