Kennedy’s political trip to Texas was part of attempts to relieve tension in the Democratic Party between liberals Ralph Yarborough and Don Yarborough (the last names are coincidental, they are of no relation) and conservative John Conally. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of a police officer and was then charged with killing JFK. Oswald was an employee of the Texas School Book Depository, where it’s believed the shots were fired. Oswald denied having committed both crimes for which he was accused, claiming he’d been framed. Nightclub operator Jack Ruby killed Oswald before he could be tried. It was widely believed that Ruby was deeply involved with organized crime in the area. Oswald had served as a US Marine before defecting to the Soviet Union in October 1959 and returned to the US in June 1942.

&nbsp;The following investigation into Kennedy’s death is controversial and to this day the conspiracy theories that arose surrounding the events of President Kennedy’s death are widely believed. A poll in November of 2013 indicated that 61% of Americans believed there’d been a conspiracy to kill JFK and 74% thought there’d been a cover up. According to this poll, only 30% believed Oswald did it alone, which was the official conclusion of the Warren Commission. Kennedy’s Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was sworn into office upon JFK’s death, created this commission to investigate the assassination. However, the later 1979 US House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that it believed a conspiracy was involved in the President’s assassination; however, the committee was unable to identify the other gunmen or the breadth of the conspiracy.

The JFK Memorial was erected in 1970 and designed by Philip Johnson 

"An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963" by Robert Dallek

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This marker is located at the JFK Memorial, a “cenotaph”, or open tomb, which commemorates John F. Kennedy, the nation’s thirty-fifth president, who was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963. The plaza was dedicated on June 24, 1970. In 1999, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza undertook management of the monument. This museum is located on the floor of the old Texas School Book Deposity building where it is believed Lee Harvey Oswald took the shots that killed President Kennedy. The alleged sniper’s perch at the sixth floor window is preserved as part of the museum.


John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza Marker

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A window on the building’s sixth floor is where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot and killed President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Today, the sixth floor of the building is home to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. The museum explores and examines the President’s death, the local and international effect of the assassination, the president’s legacy, and the culture of the 1960s. Among the artifacts in the collection is the Zapruder film, which can be viewed on the museum’s website. The Zapruder film, in 26.6 seconds, shows JFK’s assassination. Abraham Zapruder, who came to see the president’s motorcade as it passed through Dealey Plaza, shot the film. Inadvertently, he caught the assassination on his home video camera. Although it was not the only film of the assassination, it is believed by many to be the most complete and with the clearest view. It was an important part of the LBJ organized Warren Commission that investigated JFK’s death, as well as subsequent investigations of the shooting. There is speculation by some researchers of the assassination claiming that the Zapruder film is fraudulent and inconsistent with other films of the assassination, such as the Orville Nix and Marie Muchmore films.

The site of the former Texas School Book Depository has served a variety of purposes throughout the years. Originally owned by John Neely Bryan, the founder of Dallas, the site became a wagon shop operated by French immigrant Maxime Guillot during the 1880s. In 1894, Phil L. Mitchell, President and Director of Rock Island Plow Company of Illinois purchased the land and built an office building for the company’s Texas division. This structure burned down in 1901. It was rebuilt that same year. In 1937, the Carraway Byrd Corporation bought the property and leased it to a number of businesses, including the Texas School Book Depository.

The Former School Book Depository Building Historical Marker

The sixth-floor museum is a museum dedicated to the assassination of the President John F. Kennedy. This museum also serves as a window in time to the year 1963, when the president was killed. The Sixth Floor Museums collections include original manuscripts and documents, newspapers, photographs, three dimensional artifacts, audio-visual recordings, and architectural elements. The audio-visual recordings include early 1960s radio and television broadcasts, home movies, and over nine hundred oral histories of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The building the museum is in has undergone a lot in its lifetime. Through the passing of hands before and after the tragedy, threats of demolition, to ultimately being preserved. The sixth-floor museums history ventures beyond that of any other museum, and has become the epicenter of both tragedy and Triumph.In 1898 the southern rock plow company built a five-story building at the northwest corner of Houston and Elm street in Dallas. In 1901 the building burned down and a new seven-story building was erected at the original foundation. In 1937 the building was renamed the Perfection-Aire Building for the new air-conditioning business that leased it. From 1941-1961 The building had become the southwest distribution center for the Chicago-based grocery wholesale company, John Sexton &amp; Co. In 1963 the Texas School Book Depository company, a school textbook distribution firm, leased the building with regional textbook publishing firms.During this time, Dallas was considered “The city of hate” due the number of public assaults as well as right-wing, and anti-UN protests. To solidify this stigma, on November 22nd 1963, the Texas School Book Depository building became the primary crime scene of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. There was evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald, a New Orleans native and Texas School Book Depository employee, had shot and killed the President from the sixth-floor window. Oswald was arrested later that day for the murder of a Dallas police officer within 80 minutes of the assassination and was later charged with the murder of the president. Upon the assassination of the president, the depository became one of the most visited sites in the country. Millions of people visited to mourn the loss of the President. A shrine of notes, flowers, and items of sentimental value were placed at the base of the building to honor the President.Sometime in the 1970’s the Texas School book depository had vacated and immediately following this was a public outcry to demolish the building. After a Nashville music promoter bought the building at a public auction, they had to sell the building due to insufficient financial backing. Upon the building being back on the market, demolition permits were purchased by the organization, Dallas Onward. Dallas onward has promised over $100,000 to purchase and demolish the building. Ultimately Mayor West Wise had frozen the demolition permits, and arranged a purchasing of the building. Between 1977-1981 Dallas county had acquired the building. On March 29th 1981, the Dallas county administration building was erected. Although there was still momentum to demolish the building, Dallas county had been granted a Texas historical marker for the building which then publicly acknowledged for the first time, this buildings place in history.On Presidents day, February 20th 1989, the sixth-floor exhibit opened due to the visitors of the Dealey Plaza wanting to learn more about the assassination of president Kennedy. The sixth-floor exhibit highlights the historical significance of president Kennedy’s death to the world. Two key evidentiary areas have since been restored to its original 1963 appearance. Every year 350,000 people come to visit the historic Texas School Book Depository building to remember and reflect the events that happened in 1963.The preservation of historical monuments not only serves to honor those who have perished, but also to change the narrative of the memory. The city of Dallas was known to be a dangerous, and hateful city before, during and after the time of the assassination. A major contributor to this stigma would be the need to forget the tragedy. After years of outcry to demolish the building the people wanted some sort of closure, and instead they were led to embrace it. Memory has played an immense role in the overall wellbeing of the city of Dallas, mainly in the implementation of monuments and now the museum. Before all of this, there was a city ashamed of their past, but now they’ve learned to embraced it. Now the city is no longer known to be dangerous in particular nor as a city of hate per se. This site proves that preserving the memory of the past is important not only to remember, but to heal.

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated from a window facing the Dealey Plaza on the sixth floor of this building, which was the Texas School Book Depository at the time. Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee at the depository, was charged with the crime. The Sixth Floor Museum commemorates this tragic and one of the most consequential events in American history. The museum features films, artifacts, and photographs related to Kennedy's life and legacy. In all, the museum houses 45,000 of these items. Topics covered include the history and culture of the 1960s and the local and global aftermath of his death. The building itself was constructed in 1898, but after a fire, it was reconstructed and erected in 1901.

The Sixth Floor Museum 

As I said above Dealey Plaza is an important part of American history, more specifically in Texas’ history and even the Presidency’s history. “The site marks the birthplace of Dallas, originally founded by John Neely Bryan in the 1840's. Almost a century later, as a part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Work Progress Administration, the familiar white concrete colonnades and triple underpass were constructed, creating a vehicular park to serve as gateway to the city. The project was spearheaded by civic leader George Bannerman Dealey. After George B. Dealey died in 1946, a bronze statue to honor him was installed in the park and already had his name (Jfk.org).” Dealey Plaza has seen its fair share of history, from all the way back in the mid-1800's up until the 1960's and present day. Regardless though we can see that Dealey Plaza has been an important part of American history from the start. Being a birthplace of one of the larger cities in the state of Texas it more or less pushed the creation of the state into light and got it on track. Dealey Plaza’s past most definitely has a strong connection to why it has found a spot in American Presidential history, mainly because the Plaza is a very important and public area of that part of northeastern Texas.            After hearing a little bit of backstory to this small section of the West End area of downtown Dallas known as Dealey Plaza, we can look at how it is specifically connected to the American Presidency. As talked about briefly in the introduction, Dealey Plaza is bookmarked in darker American history overall because of the assassination of our 35th and youngest president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. John F. Kennedy was a very young, charismatic, and promising president, winning the election in 1960, against Republican candidate Richard Nixon. John F. Kennedy was the youngest president ever elected, he won the election against an older candidate than him, and John was 43 at the time of his victory. Sadly enough though, John would only be able to fulfill three years of his presidency, due to his life taken away by Lee Harvey Oswald.            President John F. Kennedy was in Texas for the next upcoming election year. He wished to gain more votes from this particularly red state, but he was optimistic in the travel for more votes. “By the fall of 1963, President John F. Kennedy and his political advisers were preparing for the next presidential campaigning. Although he had not formally announced his candidacy, it was clear that President Kennedy was going to run and he seemed confident about his chances for re-election. At the end of September, the president traveled west, speaking in nine different states in less than a week. The trip was meant to put a spotlight on natural resources and conservation efforts. But JFK also used it to sound out themes – such as education, national security, and world peace – for his run in 1964 (JFK Library).” After his swing out west he then decided to try and get Florida and Texas on his side for the upcoming 1964 election. President Kennedy knew that having these larger states on his side of the election meant a larger chance for a win. “President Kennedy was aware that a feud among party leaders in Texas could jeopardize his chances of carrying the state in 1964, and one of his aims for the trip was to bring Democrats together. He also knew that a relatively small but vocal group of extremists was contributing to the political tensions in Texas and would likely make its presence felt – particularly in Dallas, where US Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson had been physically attacked a month earlier after making a speech there. Nonetheless, JFK seemed to relish the prospect of leaving Washington, getting out among the people and into the public fray (JFK Library).” Even though he knew that going to Texas might not be the best idea because of extremists, President Kennedy still went on his journey. It is unknown if Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone shooter, if he was hired by someone or an association to do it, or if he was working for the Soviets, but we do know and understand his past relatively well. Oswald was a fan of the Soviet Union and spent a lot of time there after his time in the military, which isn’t really evidence for anything but at the same time it does make one’s mind ponder at the instance that he could’ve been working for and with the Soviets.            November 22nd 1963, President John F. Kennedy, his wife Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas governor John Connally, and his wife Nellie went to Dallas in an open convertible motorcade. On a ten mile long journey to a luncheon where JFK would speak, shots were fired as they were driving through Dealey Plaza. President Kennedy was struck by two bullets, one in the head and one in the neck. Governor Connally was hit in the back as well. Initially right after the shooting the motorcade took off towards the hospital, but by the time they arrived, it was too late for our president. President Kennedy was announced dead at 1:00 that day. The whole nation was speechless, heartbroken, and confused as to why someone would do such a godless thing. This day marked Dealey Plaza a murder site of a president rather than a birthplace of a city in Texas.            Nowadays you can visit this plaza, take tours, and pay your respects in a sense. There is a white ‘X’ on the road to where President Kennedy was in the motorcade when the shooting took place. There is also a museum with a floor (the sixth) dedicated to JFK. After the assassination Dealey Plaza became a hotspot for conspiracy theorist. “A 2003 ABC News poll found that 70% of Americans believe Kennedy’s death was the result of a boarder plot. The trajectory of the bullets, some say, didn’t square with Oswald’s perch on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Others suggest a second gunman – perhaps on the grassy knoll of Dealey Plaza – participated in the shooting (Content.Time.com).” Out of the many conspiracy theories some say it was just Oswald, others think it was the CIA, some believe it was the mob, or even the KGB. Regardless of whoever pulled the trigger and gave the possible order, an amazing president was murdered and a once nice and beautiful plaza was turned into a murder crime scene.            In conclusion the Dealey Plaza of Dallas Texas was originally a nice little area near downtown Dallas, where you could walk, sit down, or even go for a nice drive. It was the birthplace of its origin city. Dealey Plaza was sadly turned into a depressing and dark piece of American history that inspires conspiracy theorists and many tourists.

Dealey Plaza is a nice but smaller public park located in the West End section of downtown Dallas Texas.  Dealey Plaza has a spot in America’s history for a few reasons, but mainly its connection to an American President.  President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in his motorcade while campaigning in Texas on Main Street at Dealey Plaza.  Ever since the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Dealey Plaza has been put on the map as a darker spot of American history. 

Dealey Plaza 

President John F. Kennedy had been preparing for the upcoming election year. After traveling out west, speaking in nine different states in a week, he began to campaign in Texas. He had known that there was a lot of tension and fighting between party leaders in Texas. This tension and fighting could have potentially been a huge issue when it came to Kennedy's reelection. He wanted to win Texas and decided to campaign in the city of Dallas, Texas, the hometown of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Dallas was the area where the U.S. Ambassador of United Nations, Adlai Stevenson,&nbsp;was attacked physically while delivering a speech. Kennedy did not seem to worry much about all of the disagreements, but wanted to be out in the "political fray."&nbsp;On that rainy morning of November 22, several thousand people stood outside of Kennedy's hotel,&nbsp;present-day, Hilton Fort Worth.&nbsp;After he came outside to give a few remarks, he shook hands with many smiling faces that morning. The President and the First Lady took a thirteen minute flight to Dallas to a welcoming crowd as they proceeded off the plane. They entered an open convertible despite threats and CIA&nbsp;advisors&nbsp;tried to convince Kennedy to ride in a car with a roof&nbsp;in order to keep him safe.The rain finally ceased and the President headed through the streets of Dallas. Many excited people of Dallas lined up beside the streets to wave at the President and his wife. At 12:30 pm, gunshots&nbsp;were fired as the car entered Dealey Plaza. The gun shot landed in Kennedy's head and neck, causing him to fall into Mrs. Kennedy's lap. The Governor was also shot in the chest in the front seat. He survived. After the shots,&nbsp;the car raced off to the hospital where the President of the United States would be pronounced dead. It is believed that the shooter was indeed Lee Harvey Oswald, a recently hired employee at the Texas School Book Depository, located in Dealey Plaza. There are many different theories regarding who actually shot Kennedy and if there was another person involved. Oswald was shot during a prison transfer by Jack Ruby. There are many conspiracy theories regarding this event.

On November 22 1963, President Kennedy and his wife left their hotel and were making their way through the downtown streets of Dallas, Texas so the President could speak at a luncheon. Crowds gathered along the edges of the streets so they could wave at the Kennedys. John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States of America, was shot in the head at approximately 12:30pm. Several shots were fired hitting the President and the Governor. Many conspiracy theories continue to circulate about what exactly happened that day in Dealey Plaza.  

The building was the fifth courthouse on the site. The first was a simple log cabin built around 1846. Dallas was eventually chosen to be the county seat and a brick courthouse was constructed in 1856. The subsequent courthouses grew in size but also burned down.&nbsp;The building that stands today stopped serving as a courthouse in 1968, a few years after a new one was built just across the street.&nbsp;

The Old Red Museum of Dallas County History and Culture is located in the former city courthouse which was built in 1892 and designed by architect Max A. Orlopp Jr. in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The museum chronicles the city and surrounding region's social, economic, political and cultural history from prehistoric times to today. The Early Years exhibit covers prehistory to 1873; the Trading Center exhibit explores the period between 1874-1917 when Dallas grew to become an important economic center; the "Big D" exhibit looks at the years between 1918-1945 when the city became well known to the country; and the World Crossroads exhibit covers the period from 1946 to 2007, chronicling the city's emergence as home to big corporations, sports teams, among others. One of the many highlights on display are the handcuffs worn by Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

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John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza Marker

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