DC 11/22/13

Page 1

Graphic by Kelsey Cordutsky

friday

november 22, 2013 FRIDAY High 61, Low 37 SATURDAY High 46, Low 37

VOLUME 99 ISSUE 40 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS

50 years later

Dallas remembers Nov. 22, 1963, a day that scarred the nation’s memory, transformed Dallas into the ‘city of hate,’ and kicked off a decade of turmoil. Today a changed city commemorates John F. Kennedy’s legacy. Courtesy of AP

KATELYN GOUGH Assignments Desk Editor kgough@smu.edu The legacy of President John F. Kennedy will be honored today at the commemoration of his assassination 50 years ago at Dallas’ Dealey Plaza. During an event featuring Dallas’ civic leaders, distinguished speakers from across the nation and prominent military groups and personnel, the memory of Kennedy as an American leader — not a victim of assassination — will serve as its purpose. Dallas philanthropist Ruth Altshuler, SMU alumna and trustee, has served as chairman

for the President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Foundation, the organization charged with fundraising for and planning in entirety the commemoration. Altshuler told D Magazine in October that when she accepted the position, she did so partly to remove the 1960s label of Dallas being the “city of hate.” “If there was just anything that one person could do, to clean that off the record,” Altshuler told D. “So I took it, and I’m glad I did.” In the months leading up to the Nov. 22 pinnacle, Dallas and Southern Methodist University have been remembering the JFK legacy through panel series, author lectures, film screenings

and more. On campus, such events included a panel debate between those who served on the Warren Commission, entrusted with investigating the assassination and drawing conclusions to be presented to President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Rosine Smith Sammons Lecture in Media Ethics featured a panel on the changes in media brought on by the assassination, and a symposium on the effect of crises on American presidents is planned for February of 2014. Among the aforementioned, as well as a number of additional JFK-focused events, the SMU libraries have dedicated many galleries and displays to the

PERSPECTIVES

Kennedy memory — including displays in the DeGolyer Library of multiple letter collections, addressed to some of Dallas’ most prominent leaders of the past era. This issue of The Daily Campus features coverage highlighting SMU’s ever-present ties to the Kennedy presidency and assassination, and its overall impact on the city. Semester-long coverage is featured on The Daily Campus website, and live coverage of the commemorative event today can be followed both on smudailycampus.com and through the hashtag #SMUJFK50.

INSIDE

2 5

page

Darwin Payne remembers reporting the story

A timeline of events page

page

3

Trustee Altshuler plans commemoration

Letters to 1963 Dallas mayor Earle Cabell

8

page

Panel

Where were you Eyewitnesses share their stories Nov. 22, 1963? Katy Roden Editor-in-Chief kroden@smu.edu

The Daily Campus asked SMU faculty, staff and alumni to share their stories of when they heard the news that changed the course of history

On the day that President Kennedy was assassinated, I was in high school study hall. In our school, the principal would make important announcements over the public address system, and of course students would react in various ways, depending on what he was announcing. On that day, the principal’s voice came over the PA system and his tone of voice was very different. He told us about the shooting, and his voice choked as he said the shots were fatal. He said we need to pray for the Kennedy and Connally families and our country. We were so stunned that no one said anything. I just remember going to my next class and sitting there in shock.

— r. Gerald Turner

President, Southern Methodist University

Responses continue on pages 2, 6, 7 and 8.

A Dallas police officer, deputy sheriff, surgeon, citizen and photographer shared their eyewitness accounts of the day John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas. W.E. “Gene” Barnett was one of three Dallas police officers standing on the corner of Elm Street and Houston Street, closest to the entrance of the Texas School Book Depository. “The president had just come by and I heard a shot ring out,” Barnett said to a room of media Wednesday night on the seventh floor of the old depository building. “I looked at the president and saw his hands come up to his neck. I thought the shot was coming from the top of the building.” That assumption would later haunt Barnett as he reflected on the day.

RYAN MILLER / The Daily Campus

From left: Stephen Fagin, associate curator of The Sixth Floor Museum, Dr. Ronald C. Jones, chief surgery resident in Parkland Memorial Hospital, and Bob Jackson, photographer with the Dallas Times Herald.

“I didn’t do the right thing,” he said. “I let the man who shot the president of the United States walk out the front door.” Barnett knew Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassin, Jack Ruby, from working in the area of Ruby’s club. He arrested Ruby and one of his employees before for fighting. After a $10 fine was paid Barnett never

discussed the arrest with Ruby. Barnett said Ruby was a “very emotional person” and didn’t know he carried a weapon, although many businessmen at the time did. Barnett was in church on the Sunday when Oswald was shot by Ruby. Barnett felt the anger directed at the police of the “city of hate.” “They blamed Dallas,” he said.

Barnett remained with the Dallas Police Department for two more years before transferring to highway patrol where he remained for 30 years. Rickey Chism was 3-years-old when he saw JFK assassinated, however he didn’t know it until he

EYEWITNESS page 3


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.