Memories of JFK’s assassination are kept alive by generations who weren’t there to see him

Wednesday marks 60 years since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas.

In the days and weeks leading up to the anniversary, groups of people gathered in Dealey Plaza to catch a glimpse of the white X on the street signifying where Kennedy was fatally shot.

Some lined up outside the Sixth Floor Museum, which, in 1963, was called the Texas School Book Depository building.

Not everyone gathered on either side of Elm Street remembers where they were on Nov. 22, 1963. That’s because, for many, there’s nothing to remember — they weren’t born at the time.

While the assassination was a generation-defining moment for those around to witness it, modern interest in the Kennedy presidency is kept alive through pop culture, said Kim Bryan, the museum’s chief philanthropy officer.

Whether it’s books, documentaries, historical fictitious TV series or simple pop culture references, the memory of Kennedy has been passed down through generations over the last six decades.

Part of that can be attributed to the myth of Camelot, the retrospective name given to capture the youth and liveliness of the Kennedy administration.

“The idea of Camelot, the sort of myth of Jack and Jackie — they were young, they were vibrant, they were cosmopolitan,” she said.

But it’s more than just pop culture. Museum Marketing Manager Emily Williams said Kennedy was a champion of new and radical ideas at a crucial turning point in history.

“Now, in the time period we’re in, we’re experiencing a kind of shift in society that could go either way,” Williams said. “And so, having context with this particular event makes it very interesting.”

New generations might also be interested in the Kennedy assassination because of several conspiracy theories surrounding the event.

Conspiracy theorists think that either alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was framed and did not kill Kennedy or that he did not act alone.

(Oswald, who was arrested hours after the shooting and who the Warren commission unequivocally concluded was the lone gunman, was later shot dead by Jack Ruby before he could be convicted.)

The Sixth Floor Museum neither encourages nor discourages the idea of conspiracy theories, but that doesn’t stop people on all sides from leaving with their suspicions validated.

“If you come here thinking there is a conspiracy, you find lots of reasons for your beliefs to be confirmed,” Bryan said. “If you come here thinking Oswald acted alone, you walk away having had your beliefs confirmed.”

A Gallup poll released this month showed 65% of U.S. adults believe Oswald did not act alone, up four percent from the 50th anniversary.

Still, interest in the assassination may wane as the years go on.

Darwin Payne, who was a Dallas Times Herald reporter on the ground during the assassination, told KERA News he believes the event will start disappearing more and more from public consciousness as Dallas’ population grows.

“All these newcomers have no connection of the assassination, or direct memories of it,” he said. “So, you can’t say that we still are obedient to that as one of the things we have to take care of, although we have to honor the history of it of course.”

Payne recently released the book, “Behind the Scenes: Covering the JFK Assassination” — which has an image of him interviewing the great grandfather of Williams, the museum marketing manager.

Williams’ grandmother, who was in her 20s in 1963, visited the Sixth Floor Museum for the first time this month to see the book and hear a talk by Payne and museum curator Stephen Fagin.

She said at first her grandmother was reluctant to visit, and the idea made her upset since the museum’s sixth floor was where the FBI found the rifle that likely killed Kennedy.

“People don’t often want to be reminded of that and they want to move on, and they don’t want “the city of hate” to be a moniker forever,” Williams said. “Then really, they come here and they find out that it’s about the profound effect that Kennedy legacy had on so much of what we have today.”

In the eyes of residents alive at the time, the building still carries a stigma. In the years following the assassination, before it was preserved as a museum, there were two arson attempts on the building, in 1972 and 1984.

After turning into the Sixth Floor Museum in 1989, the former Texas School Book Depository building has become a preservation of history rather than a dark mark for the city.

That preservation of history has helped keep the memory alive, even for younger generations.

“If there wasn’t all these possibilities and mystery surrounding this and all of the events that came from this event, then it wouldn’t exist at all,” Williams said.

Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona at mcardona@kera.org.

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