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50 years ago today, a president died OU professors recount tale of John F. Kennedy’s death, conspiracy theories after assassination BENNETT HALL
Campus Reporter
This day in history marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy in downtown Dallas. News of the tragedy quickly rippled across the country by word of mouth, in blaring print newspaper headlines, on radio programs and at lightning speed through living room television screens. Swift allegations pegged the assassination on Lee Harvey Oswald, who was, himself, shot and killed the following morning by distraught citizen Jack Ruby. In the days and years after this tumultuous event, Americans reconciled their sorrow, confusion and anger in many ways. The pathos of the era manifested itself with a particular prevailing conversation piece. People said to one another, “Where were you when JFK was shot?” On Nov. 22, 1963, OU history professor emeritus David Levy was a 26-year-old graduate student doing dissertation research in Washington, D.C. Levy was on his way to the United States Supreme Court Building to pick up research documents from a friend, former Supreme Court justice Felix Frankfurter. The office workers were abuzz with the tragic news, and this was the moment he learned of the attack. “I’m not sure if it was known at that point that he had died,” he said, “but I do remember the secretaries in the office were outraged because they wondered, ‘Who would do such a thing with Jackie (Kennedy) in the car?’ That’s what upset them the most.” Levy’s own flurry of feelings hit him as he left the building and drove to pick up his brother for the Thanksgiving holiday. He said he remembers the sound of Mozart’s “Requiem” playing on the SEE ASSASSINATION PAGE 2
Motorcade leaves Dallas Love Field Airport for 10-mile route through downtown Dallas on its way to Trade Mart for a luncheon.
Saturday morning
Shots fired as percussion car passes through Dealey Plaza in downtown area. Kennedy and fellow passenger Governor Connally are hit. Car speeds to nearby Parkland Memorial Hospital.
12:30 p.m.
Kennedy pronounced dead, with fatal wounds to neck and head.
1 p.m.
Lee Harvey Oswald arrested on accusations of shooting Kennedy, Connally and Dallas patrol officer during escape.
~1:30 p.m.
Kennedy’s body is placed on Air Force Once at Dallas Love Field, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson takes oath of office aboard plane.
2:38 p.m.
Jack Ruby shoots Oswald en route to county jail during live TV coverage.
Funeral procession takes Kennedy’s body from White House to public visitation area in Capitol Rotunda.
Sunday morning
Sunday afternoon
President Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the details and findings of the post-assassination investigation.
Nov. 29
Oswald to be discussed in documentary A history professor will be featured in a documentary on the History channel TONY BEAULIEU
Life & Arts Assistant Editor
As much of the country remembers a fallen president today, attention is also focused on his alleged killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, and the mystery surrounding his life and death. OU history professor Steve Gillon hopes to shed light on the lesser-studied aftermath of the Kennedy assassination in the two-hour documentary “Lee Harvey Oswald: 48 Hours to Live,” airing at 9 tonight on History Channel.
On the morning of Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated during a public appearance in Dallas. The death of the 35th president rocked the young U.S., igniting a sea of change in American politics and culture that resounds even today. Ten months after the assassination, the Warren Commission concluded the culprit was Lee Harvey Oswald. The troubled ex-Marine, who defected to the Soviet Union, was apprehended 70 minutes after Kennedy’s death. Oswald never got to tell his side of the story, as he was gunned down while in police custody, 48 hours after being arrested, by Dallas nightclub
LECTURE
Student leads talk on culture Sooner builds discussion on his experiences while abroad CAITLIN SCHACHTER Campus Reporter
After visiting several countries in the Middle East, international security senior Ty Isom urged students to understand the importance of cultural immersion in a lecture Thursday. Isom traveled to Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Tunisia, experiencing the culture, food and historical context of another region. Isom shared his experiences with fellow
students and emphasized the consequences of living unaware of what’s beyond the U.S. at an event for the College of International and Area Studies’ International Education Week this week. “We live in a global world,” Isom said. “If we don’t learn about these countries, we’re losing more than about half we should know about the world.” Isom discovered the extent of globalization when he saw OU and Eskimo Joe’s T-shirts for sale in Turkey. SEE MIDDLE EAST PAGE 2
owner Jack Ruby. Yet, the Warren Commission concluded Oswald acted alone. Many of the mysteries surrounding Oswald’s motivations were left unanswered by his death, and many details are gone with history, lost in the confusion following Kennedy’s assassination and shrouded in a dark portion of American history. Gillon is well versed on the subject of the Kennedys. “I’ve been teaching classes about the 1960s for 20 years,” Gillon laughed. “So (the Kennedy assassination) is obviously one of the key events that you have to deal with in looking at the 1960s.”
Sports: Stoops can be the winningest coach in OU history with a win over Kansas State this weekend. (Page 4)
SEE OSWALD PAGE 5
VOL. 99, NO. 70 © 2013 OU Publications Board FREE — Additional copies 25¢
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