There were a lot of firsts within the presidency of John F. Kennedy, from the first televised presidential debate to the first program aimed at putting a man on the moon.
But what perhaps is lesser-known is that Kennedy was also the first president to have an official cinematographer.
In 1963 Thomas M. Atkins left his post in the Navy to take the position of Official White House Cinematographer, a position he held until 1969 when he returned to duty.
Tom Atkins passed away in 2011, but his sister, Janie Stephens, who lives in North Texas, was kind enough to share her collection of tangible memories.
So many people react emotionally when talking about what they were doing when they learned Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, but for Stephens it was a bit different.
"Over the loud speaker came a radio announcement. It was scratchy and the secretary came on and said, 'We have an announcement to make, that President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas today.' I stood up and ran out of the room and the other kids didn't react that much, but being that I knew my brother was there ...," recalled Stephens. "I ran to where my mother was working and we just hugged each other and we said, 'Is Tom alright?' And we hadn't heard anything from him."
Atkins, who was in the sixth vehicle behind the president in the motorcade, was OK, but of course, all of their lives were changed forever following the assassination.
Today, Stephens misses her recently departed brother, but treasures the treasures he left behind. From White House matchbooks and invitations to newspaper clippings and photographs, Stephens shared her favorites.
"This is one of the pics I clipped out of Life magazine in 1963. This was on the grassy knoll. This is my brother right here," Stephens said, as she pointed out her brother.
The office in the Frisco home she shares with her husband Dave is much like a museum, with many one-of-a-kind items.
"This photo, he did snap this pic one evening when he [JFK] was getting ready to be interviewed by Huntley and Brinkley," Stephens said. "It has been rarely seen by anybody because he just didn't show anybody."
According to Stephens, shortly after the assassination, Atkins received a phone call from the former first lady Jackie Kennedy.
"My brother took the 45-minute color production of the funeral on the request of Mrs. Kennedy. She called him and requested that the funeral be recorded in it's entirety," Stephens said.
Atkins' work was even used in the invitation to the funeral for the fallen president, which was adorned with a photograph taken by Atkins.
"This is the actual invitation to the funeral. This has been in my scrapbook for 50 years, but I just recently had this framed," Stephens said.
It's somewhat ironic that Stephens lives in North Texas because, after that terrifying day, her brother never returned.
"He never came back to Dallas because the pain was too great," Stephens said. "They interviewed him on the 46th anniversary, and he cried like a baby 47 years later. He was so emotional. He cried and he was 70-something years old."
In addition to the funeral, Atkins extensively filmed Kennedy's 1963 trip to Texas, in color. His footage was used to create the historic documentary film, "The Last Two Days." Both films, the Texas trip and the funeral, can be seen online at the website for JFK's Presidential Library.
Online:
JFK's Funeral - Watch Film
The Last Two Days - Watch Film
Tom Atkins' Website - http://eyesofthepresident.com/
