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november 22, 2013 FRIDAY High 61, Low 37 SATURDAY High 46, Low 37
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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
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Darwin Payne remembers reporting the story
A timeline of events page
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Trustee Altshuler plans commemoration
Letters to 1963 Dallas mayor Earle Cabell
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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
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FRIDAY n NOVEMBER 22, 2013 Profile
Witnessing a piece of history
SMU historian, professor emeritus recalls reporting on assassination katy roden Editor-in-Chief kroden@smu.edu Darwin Payne, professor emeritus and official SMU centennial historian, was a 26-year-old reporter for The Dallas Time Herald the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Payne was assigned to cover the Kennedy’s arrival at Love Field Airport and was struggling with the beginning of an article on Jackie Kennedy’s attire when he heard the news that shots had been fired in Dealey Plaza. He and another reporter were told to run the five blocks to the area. “When we got there the scene was one of bedlam,” said Payne, who taught journalism at SMU for 30 years. “There were lots of people around in tears, police officers, some with rifles, there was a fire truck there. So I started interviewing people on the scene.” Several women Payne interviewed said their boss had taken pictures of the assassination. That boss was Abraham Zapruder, the owner of the famous video footage that captured Kennedy’s assassination. The women took Payne to Zapruder’s office where he interviewed him for 45 minutes. Payne said Zapruder was in tears most of the interview and that he wanted to give the film to the secret service or FBI. When those agencies arrived at Zapruder’s office, Payne was not allowed in the room. Payne went to the Texas School Book Depository, where reporters were allowed to observe the sixth floor and Lee Harvey Oswald’s “sniper’s nest.” Payne returned to the newspaper’s office and was then sent to 1026 N. Beckley St. in Oak Cliff, a rooming house where Oswald had been living under the name “O.H. Lee.” Payne interviewed the owner of the rooming house and the residents who he said described Oswald as standoffish. That night Payne stayed up until 2 a.m. to write a story about everything he knew and had found out about Oswald. That story ran in Saturday’s Dallas Times Herald.
Saturday night was Payne’s regular night at the police station, which he said was full of journalists awaiting updates on Oswald. “That night you would see Oswald maybe a couple of times,” Payne said. “They’d take him in and out of the homicide office back up to the temporary jail at the top of the police station.” Payne stayed at the station until around 2 a.m. and said the police chief told reporters to come back by 10 a.m. and “you won’t miss anything” regarding Oswald, who had been formally charged for murdering Officer JD Tippit and President Kennedy. Payne woke up Sunday around noon to the news reports of Jack Ruby shooting and killing Oswald. Payne visited Ruby’s apartment that day but said “in the days thereafter almost every reporter was involved in covering aspects of the assassination.” Payne described 1963 Dallas as a hotbed of right-wing extremists. “We feared in Dallas that something would happen on that visit,” he said. “Dallas had been prepared to try to give a good, positive reception to the president. Otherwise, the reputation of the city would have been further deteriorated.” Payne cited behavior of former general Edwin A. Walker and Frank McGehee, head of the National Indignation Convention, as examples of strong conservative voices in the city. “There were all sorts of extreme right wing people who didn’t hesitate to demonstrate and try to drown out opposing voices,” Payne said. He said after the assassination, however, those voices “virtually disappeared.” “I think they realized somehow the ‘city of hate’ reputation that Dallas had received came just not because of Oswald but because of those groups.” Payne said the election of moderate democrat and 1963 Dallas Mayor Earl Cabell over Bruce Alger to Congress showed a shift in political thought. In 1963, eight of the nine Texas representatives were republicans.
Where were you Nov. 22, 1963?
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I'll never forget it! I was heading up the stairs of the Harvard Faculty Club (in Cambridge, Mass.) from the 99-cent lunch we graduate-student Teaching Fellows relied on, when I heard the television set in the front parlor of the first floor saying something about "Dallas, Texas" and "the president." We all know the rest. I suppose that, too is now history.
— jeremy adams
”
Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, History
As a young college graduate eager to see the world, I had found my dream job. Armed with journalism degree and swimsuit, I was working as a reporter in Honolulu. It was paradise…until that day, Nov. 22, 1963. I was hunched over my typewriter at Hawaii Press Newspapers when the editor bolted upright from reading the wire and said, “The president’s been shot.” “Where was he?” I quickly asked, vaguely aware of a planned trip to Texas. “Dallas,” he sneered, knowing it was my hometown. I hurried to the house I shared with girlfriends, and we huddled around the TV, transfixed as we watched the emotional, devastating stories unfold hour by hour, day by day. The impact was immediate; I had to get back to the mainland. Everything was happening in Washington while I was covering Island news and learning to hula. It seemed so frivolous. Within weeks I found a job on Capitol Hill, later went to graduate school and subsequently had a long professional career specializing in politics at The Dallas Morning News. The tragedy of the century changed history and, incidentally, the course of my life.
— Carolyn Barta
“ RYAN MILLER / The Daily Campus
Darwin Payne, professor emeritus of journalism and official SMU centennial historian, was a reporter for The Dallas Times Herald in 1963.
“In the election that followed 1964, all eight [republican representatives] lost and we had a clean slate of democrats going to the state legislature,” Payne said. “So you had that immediate reversal of politics. You saw a great moderation of political thought in Dallas.” Payne does not believe there was a conspiracy surrounding the assassination and conducted a poll of about 40 reporters who also covered the event. Payne said the results of the poll showed only two or three journalists that believed there was a conspiracy. Payne reflected on his thoughts during those days of historical significance.
“On that very day, I was thinking, ‘50 years from now there will be a big commemoration of this event, of President Kennedy, and I likely will be there,’” Payne said. Payne will not be attending the commemoration in Dealey Plaza today, but said he was glad he was there 50 years ago. “As tragic as the incident was, as horrifying as it was, as much as I liked Kennedy at the time, I felt lucky,” Payne said. “I was fortunate to have been there and been involved in an event of that magnitude.” As the official SMU centennial historian, Payne wrote a history of SMU that will be published in early 2016.
Professor of practice, journalism
”
As a young faculty member, I was bowling with students and some faculty in Rochester, N.Y. when we heard the news that President Kennedy had been shot. I have no memory of specific details after that. I do not know if we continued bowling or not. What I remember is the pall of grief that hung over the entire nation for the next few days. Everyone was glued to the TV to follow the sorrowful events after the assassination. Believe it or not, TV aired no commercials that weekend. There were no conversations about anything else; no other thoughts. Never before, thanks to TV, had the entire nation expressed such an all pervasive tone of sadness and national mourning. I had no idea then that on the 50th anniversary of the assassination I would be spending my 23rd year in Dallas teaching at SMU.
— charles e. curran
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Elizabeth Scurlock University Professor of Human Values
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On Nov. 22, 1963, I was a senior at North Carolina State University, majoring in electrical engineering. I heard the sad news that afternoon as I was driving from Raleigh to Greensboro, N.C. to pick up my fiancee — Mary Ann Farrington. We were planning to attend the North Carolina State vs. Wake Forest football game that evening in WinstonSalem, N.C. Because of the late news, the game was not cancelled; but I remember that it was a very somber event. Mary Ann and I will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary this coming year.
— w. Milton Gosney
”
Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Electrical Engineering
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
History
1964: Stanley Marcus publishes ‘What’s Right With Dallas’ SARAH BICKNELL Contributing Writer sbicknell@smu.edu A month after the American people were left stunned and confused by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, prominent Dallas businessman, JFK supporter and CEO of Neiman Marcus Stanley Marcus sat down to write, “What’s Right with Dallas,” a controversial advertisement published on New Year’s Day 1964 in newspapers around the country. In writing this ad, Marcus intended to call for calm in the wake of this tragedy, but instead, received a variety of responses, ranging from supportive to outraged. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated in Dealey Plaza, in downtown Dallas Nov. 22, 1963. The fatal shot, fired by Lee Harvey Oswald from the upper floors of the Texas School Book Depository, came in the midst of an unstable period in the city’s history. “At the time of the Kennedy killing, Dallas was labeled a city of hate, the city that hates. Before Kennedy was killed, there had been some pretty extreme, brazen imagery of people waving rebel flags, people with extreme right wing anti-government views, and people had been attacked here in the city,” according to Rick Halperin, the director of SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program. Although only a small population of Dallas was extremely critical of John F.
hate — that developed in the wake of the assassination,” said Dennis Simon, an associate professor of political science in Dedman College. In his advertisement, Marcus made note of Dallas’ positive characteristics, even during such a great national crisis. “We think there’s a lot right with Dallas. We think the dynamic growth of this city in the past thirty years has been no accident; that the factors that motivated this growth are still present and can continue to contribute to the development of Dallas as one of the major centers of distribution, banking, specialized manufacturing, — Stanley insurance in the country,” Marcus wrote. According to Halperin, “Marcus was concerned about the city of Dallas’ image and wanted Dallas to be seen in a more positive light, clearly for the business community here. He, in many ways, was concerned in 1963 that Dallas be seen in a more favorable way and that the killing of Kennedy be isolated to the negative persona of Lee Harvey Oswald as an aberration to Dallas.” In addition to revealing what he thought was right with Dallas in the 60s, Marcus also revealed what the citizens of Dallas could do to improve their city. “Here seems to us to be some of the areas for community improvement — areas in which
each of us as citizens, taxpayers and voters can exercise both individual and collective influence,” Marcus noted. His ideas about how the city could use this period of selfexamination for its own betterment ranged from noting Dallas’ terrible political extremism to shedding some light on the city’s need to focus less on its “civic image” and more on “doing good things not doing bad things.” Responses to Marcus’ advertisement ranged from agreement to anger. In a letter
response to his advertisement can be explained through Marcus’ attribution of the assassination. “People were unhappy because if you believe that Dallas played a role in killing the president, then the people of Dallas are responsible. If you believe that it could have happened anywhere, then the people of Dallas are not responsible,” Engel notes. “So, people in Dallas have a deep investment in trying to portray this as not a Dallas story, but a story between Kennedy and Oswald and could have happened anywhere.” Marcus’ intention was to highlight the good he saw in the city, and also, Marcus, Former CEO of Neiman Marcus make note of several to Marcus, Paul G. Hoffman, changes he believed the citizens managing director of the United of Dallas could make to better Nations Special Fund, wrote, their city, not accuse them of “I read with interest and high the assassination. approval… I hope that Dallas According to Halperin, listened and took your good “Marcus clearly could be seen as a positive influence of the city in advice to heart.” Some Neiman Marcus one of its worst moments. The customers on the other hand, killing of a president, it doesn’t including Mrs. James T. Jones of get much worse than that. He Wichita, Texas, were infuriated by was at the forefront of calling for the advertisement. calm and trying to get the city “Mr. Marcus, your recent to come together in a healthy, editorial advertisement was one healing way.” step too far for me and hence I Now, in 2013, in the midst cannot continue to spend money of the 50th anniversary of the at Neiman Marcus for you in turn assassination, Dallas has come to finance the ad of January 1 in together and moved far beyond The Dallas Morning News,” Jones that terrible moment in history, “But the Kennedy killing will expressed in a letter to Marcus. Engel believes that the always cast a shadow on this city,” pushback Marcus received in Halperin believes.
“Democracy is a method of reaching a consensus. Those who reject the consensus reject democracy.”
Courtesy of daveperrymiller.com
Neiman Marcus CEO Stanley Marcus published a controversial advertisement shortly after President Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas.
Kennedy’s visit, “They made their views prominent and public by taking out full-page newspaper advertisements and handing out fliers with phrases like ‘Kennedy is guilty of treason’ and ‘Kennedy is not wanted,’” said Jeffrey Engel, the director of SMU’s Center for Presidential History. In the attempt to restore Dallas’ national image from the
city of hate in the aftermath of the assassination, Marcus wrote a controversial Neiman Marcus advertisement, which, along with numerous other artifacts pertaining to the assassination, can be found on display at SMU’s DeGolyer Library. “He wrote “What’s Right with Dallas” in part, to counteract the label — city of
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Wife, grandson of Kennedy’s doctor reflect on legacy
Continued from page 1
saw himself and his mother in a history book 10 years later. “For a long time I had this dream of somebody getting killed in a car, but I never knew what it was until I was thirteen years old,” Chism said. “When I went home I asked [my parents] about it. That’s when they started telling me about it.” Chism and his parents, John and Marvin Faye, witnessed the assassination while standing on the north side of Elm Street. After the first shot, Chism’s father started running toward the grassy knoll, in the direction which he thought he heard the shots. He was tackled by what Chism thinks were secret service agents. “They ended up taking him to the police station where we spent about 12 hours,” Chism said. “They thought he was responsible.” Although he was young, Chism said he has visual memories of being downtown where there was commotion and being in the police station. Chism said his parents, especially his mother, were reluctant to speak about their eyewitness accounts out of fear. Eugene Boone was the Dallas deputy sheriff who discovered the rifle on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository about an hour after the assassination. He used a flashlight to search the floor with several other officers and found the rifle in a crevice between two stacks of boxes. “I hollered, ‘Here’s the rifle,’ and looked at my watch and it was 1:22 p.m.,” Boone said. He protected the scene until the Dallas Bureau of Identification arrived, took photos and removed the rifle. Boone said he never touched the rifle.
Courtney Madden Contributing Writer courtneym@smu.edu On Nov. 22, 1963 Dr. Charles James Carrico told his wife, Sue, goodbye for what seemed like a normal day at work, but when he returned home after a 12-hour shift at Parkland Hospital, he had memories that would haunt him forever. Nearly 50 years after the JFK assassination and 11 years after losing her husband to colon cancer, those memories all remain vivid to Sue Carrico. She is still hesitant to speak about her husband’s role as the first doctor to treat President John F. Kennedy. “As a kid I didn’t know much about it,” Tim Telaneus, grandson of the Carricos, said. “All I ever heard was he was the first doctor to see JFK. It was just a cool trivial thing.” For most Americans, the Lincoln convertible cruising down the streets of Dallas, the president’s warm smile, and the first lady’s dainty wave laced with her classic pink outfit remain etched in their memories. The 50th anniversary marks a day when politics were set aside and Americans came together to grieve. The Kennedy legacy is defined in many ways and is evoked nationwide through simple memories, handwritten letters and firsthand experiences. For the Carrico family, the movie “Parkland,” released Oct. 2 is yet another reminder of the day that Sue Carrico cannot forget. The Dallas hospital marks where both Kennedy and his assassin Lee Harvey Oswald were pronounced dead.
Courtesy of First Showing
Zac Efron plays Dr. Charles James Carrico in the movie “Parkland.”
Sue Carrico attended the “Parkland” premiere in Dallas nearly a month before the release with Telaneus on her arm. Although he always heard about his grandfather’s accomplishments, it was not until the premiere that he realized not only did his grandfather make outstanding medical accomplishments, but he also made history. “As I have gotten older I have learned how big of a deal he is and that he is one of the most influential doctors in the world of trauma surgery,” Telaneus said about his grandfather. “As a kid the fact that he was the president of the American
College of Surgeons was always a way bigger deal to the family.” Telaneus explained the premiere was much more emotional than expected. Not only did “Nana” get teary-eyed, but so did Telaneus. After the showing they were both approached by the producer of the film. “It was incredible for me to witness the producer approach both Nana and I, with so much honor to shake the both of our hands,” Telaneus said. “I was even more shocked when I noticed he was nervous. I felt like we should have been the ones nervous.”
Like Barnett, Boone also had previous relations with Ruby. Boone worked in the advertising department of the Dallas Times Herald, in which Ruby bought ads for his club. “My impression of Jack [Ruby] was that he really had some sort of complex,” Boone said. “Knowing him the way I did, I believe he thought he would shoot Oswald, be the man that shot the man, the code of the west and that no jury would ever convict him. And he could go back to operate his business and be the main attraction.” Boone said the sheriff ’s office received threats on Oswald’s life when he was going to be transferred. He credited Ruby’s common presence in the police station as to why he was not seen as a threat before he shot Oswald. Dr. Ronald C. Jones treated President Kennedy and his accused assassin Oswald in less than 48 hours at Parkland Memorial Hospital. “When you get the call that the president of the United States is shot, it’s tense,” Jones said. When he walked into Trauma Room 1, Jones said he observed a small wound in the middle of the president’s neck, that his eyes were open and he was not moving. He was aware of a large wound in the back of JFK’s head but that the doctors did not evaluate it immediately because the focus was on establishing an airway. “Parkland,” released Oct. 2, recreates the supposed events that took place in the hospital, now renown for its trauma center. After seeing 40 minutes of the film, Jones said, “It’s a movie. You get the impact from it, but it’s over dramatized and the characters in it are not exactly correct.” Jones said the small 12 by 16 foot room was crowded with 20 people filling it, but that it was very quiet.
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“Things went as we would have taken care of any other patient, it just happened that it was the president and [there] was lots of pressure on you,” he said. Kennedy’s body was taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland for autopsy. Jones said he believed that if the autopsy had been done in Dallas it would have supplied no additional significant information. Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Jackson was working for the Dallas Times Herald when he took his famous photograph of Ruby shooting Oswald exactly at the right second. He wasn’t able to develop the film until two hours after the shooting, but Jackson said he knew he had a good shot. However, he was not so lucky when he missed a photograph opportunity two days before, riding seven cars behind Kennedy in the motorcade. As the open convertible Jackson was riding in turned on to Houston street, he heard three shots and looked directly ahead of him at the Texas School Book Depository. In the sixth floor window he said he saw a rifle. Jackson had just emptied his film on his long-lense camera five minutes before, to throw to a reporter. Although the lack of film in the camera in his lap kept him from possibly capturing historical evidence, Jackson says he doesn’t think he could have reacted quickly enough to get the photo even if he had film. Jackson emphasized that he heard three shots that afternoon because the car he was in was out of the “echo chamber” that some say was created by the tall buildings surrounding Dealey Plaza. The eyewitnesses who were interviewed by the media were invited to the event as well as Stephen Fagin, associate curator of the Sixth Floor Museum.
timeline
Three days of history: Nov. 22 - Nov. 24, 1963 Lee Harvey Oswald arrives at work at the Texas School Book Depository. John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy depart on Air Force One from Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas.
8 a.m.
11:25 a.m.
Courtesy of AP
The Kennedys arrive at Love Field in Dallas.
11:45 a.m.
The president’s limousine arrives at Parkland Hospital.
12:30 p.m.
Officer JD Tippit is shot by Oswald in Oak Cliff.
12:36 p.m. 1 p.m. 1:15 p.m. Friday, November 22 , 1963
The presidential motorcade heads north on Houston Street. JFK is shot on the northwest corner of Houston Street and Elm Street in front of the Texas School Book Depository.
Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as the 36th U.S. president aboard Air Force One. The plane departs moments later with JFK’s body and Jackie Kennedy on board as well.
President Kennedy is pronounced dead. Oswald makes it back to his rooming house in Oak Cliff, grabs a pistol and leaves.
1:45 p.m.
2:38 p.m.
Oswald enters the Texas Theatre without puchasing a ticket. Police arrive minutes later and arrest Oswald.
Courtesy of AP
Oswald is charged with Tippit’s murder and arraigned in the police captains’ office.
5:25 p.m.
7:10 p.m.
Kennedy’s body arrives at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md.
Courtesy of Flickr
Courtesy of AP
Courtesy of The Sixth Floor Museum
Courtesy of AP
Kennedy’s funeral arrangements are made in Washington. Invitations are sent via telegram.
Oswald is booked into a cell after 10 hours of interrogation. He is formally charged with the murder of the president and Officer Tippit.
midnight 7 a.m. 9 a.m. saturday, November 23, 1963
Dallas police prepare to transfer Oswald from police headquarters to the more secure county jail.
7 a.m.
Courtesy of AP
Courtesy of AP
Oswald arrives at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
11:21 a.m.
Oswald is pronounced dead and his body is taken to the morgue at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
1:07 p.m. 11:32 a.m. 12:08 p.m. sunday, November 24, 1963
Ruby shoots Oswald and is taken into custody.
Kennedy’s casket leaves White House in a procession to the U.S. Capitol.
Flowers and memorials for Kennedy begin to be brought to the grassy knoll in Dealey Plaza.
Courtesy of AP
Courtesy of AP
Courtesy of AP
1:45 p.m. Jackie Kennedy requests an eternal flame for her husband’s grave. She lights it the next day at his burial in Arlington National Cemetery.
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NEWS
FRIDAY n NOVEMBER 22, 2013 Event
Altshuler oversees JFK commemoration KATELYN GOUGH Assignments Desk Editor kgough@smu.edu Dallas’ renowned philanthropist Ruth Altshuler received a call from Mayor Mike Rawlings a year and a half ago with a prestigious and imperative request: he needed Altshuler to design and achieve the Commemoration ceremony honoring President John F. Kennedy, 50 years following his assassination at Dealey Plaza. Serving officially as chairman of the President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Foundation, Altshuler has worked in conjunction with Laurey Peat, whose Public Relations firm Laurey Peat + Associates is charged with overseeing the event — namely, keeping count on the $3 million price tag. Altshuler herself raised all needed funds by sending out personal letters to about 40 of her friends and acquaintances. In an interview with D Magazine, Altshuler said with most people, she asked for $50,000 donations. With about half responding, some gave significantly more, and others
Courtesy of SMU
Ruth Altshuler
gave slightly less. After a life-long career dedicated to raising money for philanthropies and projects she held close to her heart, the commemoration was the project that brought her out of “retirement” and back to what she does best. “Life has not been wasted on me, that’s for sure,” Altshuler said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News last February. “I’ve just been fortunate to meet all these interesting people in all these interesting situations.” One of the highlights for Altshuler in planning the
Commemoration has been the selection of David McCullough, Pulitzer-winning presidential historian and good friend of hers, as a featured speaker. “He may be America’s best historian and his voice is so good… He was delighted,” Altshuler told D Magazine. Altshuler also secured the U.S. Naval Academy Choir for music —finding the ideal connection through Admiral Patrick Walsh, Senior Fellow at SMU’s Tower Center, who Altshuler learned had been mentored by her brother, Jim Collins. For all the many prestigious elements that Altshuler has fought for and accomplished, the end product is meant to be one of somber celebration of Kennedy’s life, rather than his death, according to a DMN interview with Rawlings. The planning of an event that carries with it very mixed emotions has not been without its challenges, however. Protesters began gathering several days in advance of the event, and local and national articles have been published citing conspiracy
theories and that Dallas is trying to recover from its 1960s label as the “city of hate.” In spite of it all, Altshuler told D Magazine she has “no apologies for this [commemoration].” “It’s going to be very dignified,” Altshuler said in the interview. “It will be a very touching moment. And I think we’ll all be proud of it.” Altshuler, a 46-year trustee of the university, spent a good portion of her life doing work for the benefit of her alma mater, SMU. The Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center
(or, A-LEC) holds her namesake, and in 2000, during her time as chair on the board of trustees, Altshuler gave $250,000 to begin the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Award. She is also a Distinguished Alumna and was awarded the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award by SMU’s Carey M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility in 2011 — her luncheon ceremony was attended by such distinguished guests as former first lady Laura Bush, and founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Nancy Brinker, among others.
The 50th: Honoring The Memory of PResident John F. Kennedy Event Program — Nov. 22, 2013 Dealey Plaza, Dallas 11:30 a.m. — Pre-show begins, musicians from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra perform Color Guard entrance with bagpipes National Anthem, remain standing for invocation Mayor Mike Rawlings remarks (close with moment of silence; bell tolls)
THE SIXTH FLOOR MUSEUM AT DEALEY PLAZA
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Navy Choir song 1 — “America the Beautiful” David McCullough remarks
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Navy Choir song 2 — “Battle Hymn of the Republic” Closing prayer Navy Choir song 3 — “Navy Hymn” Fly over
Commerce Street
End Graphic by Caroline Betts
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LEFT OUT
in the
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GET MORE OUT OF YOUR WINTER BREAK
SMU Connections on The 50th Committee Linda Pitts Custard Linda Pitts Custard, a former member of the SMU board of trustees from 2000-2012, serves as the vice chairman of The 50th Committee. Custard and her husband have been generous donors to the Meadows School of the Arts and President’s Scholars Program.
Adelfa Callejo Adelfa Callejo, a longtime community activist and attorney was the first Latina graduate of the Dedman School of Law at SMU. She has been a leading voice fighting for both immigration reform and the rights of Hispanics for decades, and has recently turned her focus toward education.
Bobby B. Lyle Bobby B. Lyle is a 20-year member of the SMU board of trustees and SMU alumnus. He serves on the executive board of the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, and is currently the convening co-chair of the Engineering Steering Committee for The Second Century Campaign.
Caren Prothro Caren Prothro is a 21year member of the SMU board of trustees and active philanthropic leader in the Dallas community. She serves on the board of the Dallas Museum of Art, the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation and was previously the vice-chair of the SMU board of trustees.
FRIDAY n NOVEMBER 22, 2013 Religion
NEWS
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Reverend gives sermon, holds Dallas accountable KATELYN GOUGH Assignments Desk Editor kgough@smu.edu When President John F. Kennedy was shot in his open motorcade 50 years ago on the streets of downtown Dallas, the city immediately reacted. But Dallas’ state of shock, for the most part, differed significantly from the state of shock felt by the rest of the nation. Americans were grieving; grappling with the disbelief that such a tragedy could come from within this country’s community. In Dallas, however, the city’s perceived insistence on an image of innocence was what Rev. William A. Holmes described as “white wash” and, per national sentiments, “Pollyanna.” Holmes stood before the congregation of Northaven Methodist Church and preached a sermon calling for Dallasites to awaken themselves to the realities of hate in the city and to hold accountable the community as a whole. “We cannot, month after month, year after year, sow seeds of intolerance and hate, and then, upon learning of the president’s visit, just throw a switch and hope all rancor will disappear,” Holmes preached. Holmes wrote in his personal memoirs recounting the aftermath of his sermon, entitled “One Thing Worse Than This.” “I proposed that ‘one thing worse’ than the immense tragedy of the president’s assassination would be for the city where the tragedy occurred to be in denial of its own national reputation for incivility and even violence toward certain [elected officials],” Holmes said. Holmes outlined for his congregation the series of events over the previous years that created “the city’s climate of acrimony and extremism” that allowed the tragedy of an
Courtesy of Flickr
Rev. William A. Holmes
assassination to even become a possibility. “I urged those of us who had been part of the passive, silent majority to begin challenging bigotry and intolerance,” Holmes said. “I spoke of a new day in Dallas, with new attitudes toward political debates, and a new civility where persons could disagree without insult or rancor.” CBS picked up on Holmes’ outlier preaching and requested to tape a repeat of the sermon to air on “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.” While much of the country expressed their gratitude for Holmes bringing justice to the assassination and to the host city, some — and many in Dallas — felt vehemently opposite. Shortly after the broadcast, police were knocking on the Holmes family’s front door, informing them of the police protection in place to guard the husband, wife and their two sons from the numerous
bomb threats. Holmes explained in an interview that it was not so much the police guard that was surreal, but rather the fact that the family was being threatened. But even under the added danger of the circumstances, Holmes stood by his message. “[It was] my decision to allow parts of the sermon to be televised, [and] I never seriously regretted that decision,” Holmes said. “My wife and our two sons have always concurred with me as well.” Darwin Payne, professor emeritus of communications at SMU and a field reporter for The Dallas Morning News during the time of the assassination, explained that the backlash from city residents fell into line with the climate of a community deflecting accountability. “The threats [Holmes] received represented the initial reaction in the city to chastise those
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Dallasites who found anything to blame at the Dallas atmosphere at the time,” Payne said. During a period when the city was struggling with hatred from the rest of the country, Dallasites who spoke against that very community were not welcomed by any means. “They were basically considered to be traitors to their own city,” Payne said. Evelyn L. Parker, associate professor of practical theology at SMU, said the political impact a spiritual word can have is often unrealized. Holmes’ sermon is a prime example of his preaching taking on responsibility beyond its own congregation. “A sermon that would impact a broader audience…has to be credited to a person’s ability to communicate to a wider audience,” Parker explained. “But [it’s] also the ability to get people to think about complex issues, and to do that with passion.” Holmes received criticism from several of his colleagues in the Dallas Methodist community — they did not believe a member of the community should stand against his fellow members. “I simply accepted the nonsupport, or criticism, of some colleagues and knew it was to be expected,” Holmes said. Parker explained that a true leader of the church “does not see a binary between their religious prophetic life and their public life.” “They see those as intertwined, and they see a responsibility in making those come together,” Parker said. “I think that’s the central piece — to understand yourself as a public theologian.” Parker said the key to balancing these facets of public ministry comes from a respect that is earned from reciprocity — when respect is shown, respect is given. “A preacher that is both receptive…and open to receive
ELLEN SMITH / The Daily Campus
SMU Professor of Practical Theology Evelyn L. Parker
persons and dialogue lends [himself] to being heard by a broader audience,” Parker said. Professor of Homiletics in the Perkins School of Theology Brad Braxton explained that with the openness to perception and dialogue exists an inevitable political dimension in nearly every sermon. “Arguably, any sermon that does not at some point make reference to the political realities of the gospel, in a very profound way, impugns the gospel,” Braxton said. Referring to sermons as “public pronouncements sermons attempt to explain and explore the good things of God for the world,” Braxton explained. Because of that nature, politics cannot be avoided. “Inherently, [sermons] are meant to speak to wider realities, including political realities,” Braxton said. Holmes’ integrity to providing his just commentary on political
issues has accompanied him through his career as the senior minister of the Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church in Washington, from which he retired in 1998. “I have known through all these years that my anxieties about being controversial — while deeply existential — are only as decisive and controlling as I allow them to be,” Holmes wrote. “I have the choice of either being the victim of these emotions, or transcending them.” Parker echoed the struggle between fear of consequences and dedication to speaking one’s truth — a challenge and accomplishment facing most anyone with an effective voice to the public. “It’s not an easy task, but if you feel that what you have to say is important and necessary, then fear is in the background,” Parker said. “The passion and the urgency to speak the truth… pushes you past the fear.”
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OPINION
WEDNESDAY friday n November n JANUARY 22,18, 2013 2012
Where were you Race played role in assassination coverage Nov. 22, 1963?
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history
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
I remember the moment vividly. I was a graduate student at Yale University, and that morning I had finished my thesis proposal. After lunch, I walked across the campus to talk to my advisor. I heard the news from a student with a portable radio. I was standing exactly where I saw John F. Kennedy three years before, my first time voting, when he drove through downtown New Haven, Conn. in an open convertible. The peculiar shock to me was the mixture of that strong memory with news so unexpected and unbelievable.
— Michael holahan
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Associate professor, English
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I was in the sixth grade at Benbrook Elementary School in Fort Worth, Texas. We were in assembly watching the movie “Toby Tyler” when they stopped the film and our principal stepped on stage. In a very shaky voice he announced that the president had been shot and school was letting out immediately. He was crying. A grown man back then simply did not cry in public, so we knew something terrible had happened. The teachers were all shocked and crying and asked us to be very careful getting home. Parents were already lining up in front of the school to pick up their kids. As I walked home mothers were clustered in their front yards, crying and hugging each of us as we walked by. I didn’t know these women, but their distress and deep concern was evident. Once home I turned on the radio and learned the horrible truth: our president was dead and it happened just 30 miles away in Dallas. The week following that day it felt like a heavy, dark cloud hung over all of North Texas. People were quiet, businesses closed and traffic was very light. Many stayed home watching TV and listening to the radio. I didn’t understand it, but there was a powerful sense of shame and dread.
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— steve lee
Adjunct professor, communication studies
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I was a reporter at the Dallas Times Herald that day, assigned to the rewrite desk to do a story on Jackie Kennedy. We were on strict deadline, for we were an afternoon newspaper with a noon deadline that we held back just a bit for the president's arrival. One of our reporters (Val Imm) was at Love Field, and she had given me notes about Jackie's appearance, her interaction with the adoring crowd, and other descriptions when the shots were fired. Our deskman who was monitoring the police radio transmissions stood up and shouted that shots had been fired at Dealey Plaza. My efforts to write the Jackie Kennedy story immediately were dropped at that moment. I ran the five blocks to Dealey Plaza and began interviewing eyewitnesses. What a weekend it turned out to be.
— DArwin Payne
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Professor emeritus, communications; SMU official historian
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I was in a seventh grade science class at La Vega Intermediate School in Waco, Texas when the principal began playing a radio feed over the intercom system to inform us that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. I remember there being a general feeling of sadness and disbelief. But what I remember most about the JFK assassination was the television coverage that followed. The coverage of the Lee Harvey Oswald killing and the funeral of JFK were extraordinary. The visuals of the funeral procession with the caisson, the riderless horse with the boots turned backward in the stirrups, and the drumbeat in the audio are incredibly vivid in my memory. I learned for the first time of some of the powerful symbols that represented the United States. And I seemed to understand, as I now know, that a national catharsis was being played out over a horrible tragedy through the medium of television. I had a sense that weekend, even at the age of 13, that television was coming of age as a news medium.
— Tony Pederson
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Professor, The Belo Distinguished Chair in Journalism
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 quote worthy
“These are the men and women who in their extraordinary lives remind us all of the beauty of the human spirit, the values that define us as Americans, the potential that lives inside of all of us.” —President Barack Obama, presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award created by John F. Kennedy, to 16 Americans
courtney spalten Arts & Entertainment Editor cspalten@smu.edu With the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK finally here, it seems like all of Dallas is commemorating the president in some way. Between preparations for Thanksgiving next week and honoring President John F. Kennedy, there’s much happening in Dallas this weekend. While The Sixth Floor Museum has been an established commemoration of JFK, the rest of the art community is making efforts to honor the late president. From theater to art exhibitions to concerts, there will be plenty of artistic dedication to honor JFK this weekend. One of the events that I’m most looking forward to takes a look at the first lady. El Centro College is presenting “Jackie and Main Street,” a gallery art show examining the influence
maintains that covering the assassination was a watershed moment in the careers of many journalists including Peter Jennings, Jim Lehrer, Robert MacNeil, Dan Rather and Bob Schieffer. Each could serve as a role model for an aspiring journalist, all the more so if the viewer was a white male. Is any of this relevant today? Before answering that question, I suggest going to the newspaperalum website, which tracks the careers of reporters large and small. The man behind the blog is Bill Lucey. In a recent article, “Journalists Recall JFK Assassination 50 Years Later,” Lucey contacted seven of his “favorite journalists” to “share their vivid recollections” of the assassination. All seven are white males including former New York Times columnist Frank Rich and political writer Charlie Cook. At the time of the assassination, Rich was a 14-year-old in middle school and Cook was in the third grade.
Flournoy is a former associate professor in the SMU Division of Journalism.
of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy on fashion retail during the early 1960s. Ken Weber and Greg Kelly, the owners of the Vintage Martini boutique, are supplying the historically accurate garments. Vintage Martini is the go-to vintage shop for many films and television shows, including AMC’s “Mad Men.” The exhibition will feature examples of women’s garments from the period juxtaposed against historic photographs of the Kennedy assassination that have been provided by the Dallas Municipal Archives. If you are downtown this Saturday, you may hear music coming from the Dallas Arts District. The tunes are being played in honor of JFK. The Nasher Sculpture center is presenting the exhibition, “Soundings: JFK Memorial Concert” featuring the Brentano String Quartet at Dallas City Performance Hall. Another interesting option to check out this weekend is “Hotel
Texas: An Art Exhibition for the President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy” at the Dallas Museum of Art. This exhibit features the works of art that were installed in the president’s suite at the Hotel Texas during his ill-fated trip to Texas in 1963. The works were originally installed in honor of the president and first lady and feature artists like Thomas Eakins, Franz Kline, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and others. The Texas Theatre is infamously remembered as the location where Lee Harvey Oswald was captured following the assassination. Oswald snuck into the theater during a showing of “War is Hell” and was captured by the police after being recognized. Fifty years later, the same theater is showing a partial screening of “War is Hell.” There will also be a theatrical re-creation of the interviews conducted with theater employees by The
Warren Commission and a 35mm screening of Oliver Stone’s “JFK.” Certainly one of the most widespread commemoration efforts is the Dallas Love Project, a citywide exhibition in honor of the memory of President Kennedy. The Dallas Love Project is an effort to create and redefine Dallas as a city of love rather than a city of hate. The project started on Sept. 21, the International Day of Peace, and is ending Friday. For the past several weeks, 18-inch-by-18-inch art pieces created have been on display throughout Dallas, including along the Kennedy motorcade route. The works were created by students, people in the business world and senior citizens. Spalten is a senior majoring in journalism.
perspectives
Kennedy’s assassination not just history michael graves Contributing Writer mwgraves@smu.edu Yesterday I was reading a story on Associated Press that claimed the assassination of John F. Kennedy is just a page in a history book for millennials. This claim struck me, and I began to wonder how other generations view monumental, historic moments in our nation’s history. I spoke with a class of high school students who don’t remember the Sept. 11 attacks, but their entire world was changed by those events. Similarly, our world is still influenced by the Kennedy assassination. In the same AP article, students comment about their visit to The Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired the rounds that killed Kennedy. I felt the article’s authors lied to me. These students still seemed affected.
News Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Sims Arts and Entertainment Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Caleb Wossen Sports Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Billy Embody Staff Photographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ellen Smith Editorial Staff Editor-in-Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katy Roden Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W. Tucker Keene SMU-TV News Directors . . . . . . . . . Lexie Hammesfahr, Dacota Taylor Assignments Desk Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katelyn Gough Online Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Haley Thayer Associate Online Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yusra Jabeen Arts & Entertainment Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Courtney Spalten Associate Arts & Entertainment Editor . . . . . . . . . . Michelle Hammond Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Demetrio Teniente Associate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew Costa Style Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brooke H. Reagan Health & Fitness Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samantha Peltier Food Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mallory Ashcraft Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rebecca Keay Associate Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ben Ohene Opinion Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trevor Thrall Chief Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Collin Abbott Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren Aguirre, Christina Cox
reporters asked. To better understand the disconnect between media and country, spend an hour watching KERA’s “JFK: Breaking the News.” Focusing on media coverage of the assassination and its immediate aftermath, the documentary argues television united the country during those four awful November days and, in the process, displaced newspapers as Americans’ go-to news source. When crowds are shown, whether it be those standing in the rain when JFK and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrive in Fort Worth, Texas or the crush of people outside Parkland Memorial Hospital awaiting word on the President’s condition, viewers see men and women, whites and blacks and Latinos. On the other hand, I did not see a single AfricanAmerican or Latino reporter. Of the two dozen local reporters shown, all were men save one Mary Woodward, a Dallas Morning News reporter who wrote an eyewitness account of the assassination. The documentary rightly
” Dallas arts community honors JFK
Dean of Cox School of Business; The Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership
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In September 1955, Mamie Till Bradley approached the courthouse in Sumner, Miss. Two white men faced trial for the murder of her only child, 14-year-old Emmett Till. Prosecutors asked Ms. Bradley to testify because defense attorneys argued the bloated body pulled from the Tallahatchie River was not young Till. Before entering the courthouse, the grieving African-American mother had to navigate a sea of television cameras, microphones and white male reporters. “How do you think you could possibly be a help to the prosecutors?” asked one. “Do you have any evidence bearing on this case?” said another. Ms. Bradley replied, “I do know that this is my son.” It is difficult to imagine an African-American reporter asking these questions. Or a mother. We would do well to remember that scene on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In
1955 and again in 1963, a multiracial, mostly-female population got its news from mainstream news organizations dominated by white men. The reporting, like the group, tended to be onedimensional in the questions asked and stories pursued. African Americans understood this. Had it not been for black voters in 1960, Kennedy would have lost Illinois, Michigan, South Carolina and the presidency. After two years of inaction, the president had proposed a sweeping civil rights bill. With Kennedy dead and a white Southerner as president, what did the future hold? The black press explored this in great detail as well as the shock of the assassination felt in the black community. White reporters seldom interviewed black Americans in 1963. Women also had reason to worry about the post-1963 direction of the presidency. Five months before the assassination, Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act prohibiting discrimination against women in wages. Where did the Johnson administration stand on the question of equal rights for women? Few male
entertainment
I was a college student in Massachusetts and I had gotten in my car and I was backing up and my best friend came up and banged on the window. He said, “They just shot Kennedy.” I said, “Joe, come on that’s a sick joke.” He said, “No, no I’m serious. JFK got shot.” At the time it wasn’t clear if he was going to make it or not, so I put my radio on. I was driving home and all the way I listened to the news on the radio that JFK had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas. When he was president, my father had a motel business in Cape Cod, Mass. We were booked out a year in advance because everyone would come to Cape Cod because they knew on Sunday morning JFK always went to St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis, Mass. He went to 10 a.m. mass and people by the thousands would wait and take pictures. My mother just cried for days. It was a terrible impact on my family; a very traumatic experience in our household.
— albert w. niemi
Craig flournoy Contributing Writer cflourno@smu.edu
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Indeed, I am emotional watching the news reports from that day, especially the iconic Walter Cronkite report when he announced Kennedy’s death as he received the news from his correspondents in Dallas. I still wonder why Kennedy was assassinated, and am skeptical of those, especially in government, who blame Oswald. I am also fascinated that our understanding of conspiracy theories comes from this event. Kennedy represented a new era of development for the United States. We were trying to maintain global peace in the midst of a Cold War. We were in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. However, Americans were also severely polarized on opinions of race and equal rights in America. Kennedy’s assassination reminded us that powerful people are often adored by many. Indeed many individuals who identified with minority
populations and progressive whites supported Kennedy. Yet, powerful people also attract radicals on the other side. Kennedy’s assassination gave us the idea that the government can conduct inside jobs should they feel anyone is a threat. Americans became skeptical of their power in democracy, and unsure of the government’s power in their daily lives. The event opened a new bottle of ideas that perhaps were not beneficial to our government’s control, but gave more power to people and taught them to question the authorities that control them. Although some may now argue that the Kennedy assassination is just a moment in history, especially for those who were not alive to witness the events, we all still feel and interact within the culture that event helped to create. Before the 9/11 attacks, planes did not just fly
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into buildings. Of course it was possible for them to do so, but we were not worried that this would be a way to inflict harm upon people. Before the Kennedy assassination, perhaps people did not believe such prominent figures who promoted societal progression could be such targets of hate. Only five years later Martin Luther King Jr. would also be assassinated. Indeed, Kennedy’s assassination is not just a day in history for us. We may not think of the day every moment, and we may only remember the events on its anniversary, but all of us live in the culture the assassination created. These events shape our daily lives, the way we view our leaders and country, and how we look back on our monumental choices as a country. Graves is a senior majoring in communications and religious studies.
Entire contents © 2013 The Daily Campus. thedailycampus@gmail.com • http://www.smudailycampus.com SMU Box 456, Dallas, TX 75275 • 214-768-4555 • Fax: 214-768-8787 Daily Campus Policies The Daily Campus is a public forum, Southern Methodist University’s independent student voice since 1915 and an entirely student-run publication. Letters To The Editor are welcomed and encouraged.All letters should concentrate on issues, be free of personal attacks, not exceed 250 words in length and must be signed by the author(s). Anonymous letters will not be published and The Daily Campus reserves the right to edit letters for accuracy, length and style. Letters should be submitted to thedailycampus@gmail.com. Guest columns are accepted and printed at the editor’s discretion upon submission to thedailycampus@gmail.com. Guest columns should not exceed 500-600 words and the author will be identified by name and photograph. Corrections. The Daily Campus is committed to serving our readers with accurate coverage and analysis. Readers are encouraged to bring errors to The Daily Campus editors’ attention by emailing Editorial Adviser Jay Miller at jamiller@smu.edu.
SPORTS
FRIDAY n NOVEMBER 22, 2013 Football
Commentary
Must win in south Florida billy embody Sports Writer wembody@smu.edu
SMU P ICK S
SMU has to win two out of its last three games to get to bowl eligibility for the fifth straight season and can take a step in the right direction against the struggling University of South Florida Bulls Saturday at 6 p.m Central time. The Mustangs have to head on the road to face the 2-7 Bulls, but SMU is on a roll, winning three out of its last four games thanks in large part to quarterback Garrett Gilbert’s play. Gilbert has thrown for over 300 yards and completed over 62 percent of his passes in five straight games, but Gilbert was hurt in last week’s win over the University of Connecticut and has been limited in practice all week to watch over his shoulder. It will be on the SMU offensive line to help Gilbert out by giving him plenty of time to throw, but it could be a tough task. USF features two defensive ends in Ryne Giddins and Aaron Lynch, who were both highly recruited and are solid athletes. The running game for SMU has
been a complete afterthought so Gilbert will need to win this one with his arm most likely, but with the receivers stepping up nicely the last couple of weeks, expect Gilbert to have a big day. For USF, the tale has been very different; the Bulls are starting their fourth quarterback of the season with first-year Mike White at the helm, but have found the most success offensively with White. White threw for over 300 yards in his first game, a loss to University of Houston, but then followed that up with a four-interception performance against University of Memphis. SMU’s pass defense ranks 119th in the country though, even worse than Houston’s, so SMU must get pressure on the young signal caller to make a difference and stop him from crushing SMU’s hopes of a bowl. The SMU secondary will have to stop junior receiver Andre Davis, who at 6-1, 200 pounds is nicknamed “Freak Show,” for his ability to go up and win jump balls. Davis has had two straight games of 100 yards or more after not having one in the games before the last two.
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Long live the Prince Preston Hutcherson Contributing Writer phutcherson@smu.edu
Courtesy of AP
Jeremy Johnson (15) had 12 catches for 71 yards and two touchdowns against UConn on Saturday.
This is a must-win game for SMU because the next two opponents, USF and University of Central Florida, will make it extremely difficult to return to a bowl game as their combined records are 15-4. The Mustangs cannot be looking ahead to their game
against rival Houston and can’t allow a loss like the team did to Tulane University last season that made SMU’s road to a bowl even tougher. The game will be televised on ESPN 3 Saturday night. Prediction: SMU wins, 42-10.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports was the first to report late Wednesday that the Texas Rangers had agreed to trade second baseman Ian Kinsler to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for first baseman Prince Fielder and $30 million in cash. With baseball’s “hot stove” season, a period of time marked by trade rumors and free-agent speculation, just beginning in earnest, news of this trade caught many baseball observers off guard. The deal is an example of what some call an “old-fashioned baseball trade,” meaning a onefor-one trade of two good players between two good teams, a rare event in the current MLB market, which increasingly favors hoarding young talent to be signed long-term or traded to a non-contending team in exchange for a veteran player. The Tigers needed a second baseman for 2014, while also needing to free up money to extend the contracts of several of their own star players in the near future, such as Cy Young award winner
Max Scherzer and two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera. The Tigers are gaining four seasons of Kinsler, who will likely be good but not great over that span, while saving nearly $76 million dollars in contractual obligations. From that perspective, it is hard to see the deal as a bad one for Detroit. Texas took on much more of the risk in the deal, but for good reason. Last season the Rangers had the enviable problem of employing more good middle infielders than there are positions in the middle infield. The Rangers badly needed a left-handed power bat, and Fielder, when at his best, is one of the greatest in the game. Kinsler was an astounding player development success story for the Rangers; he was drafted in the 17th round and turned into an All-Star player on the best Rangers team in franchise history. He was an immensely talented and fun player to watch; he should and will be missed by the fans. Thank you, and best of luck Kinsler. Long live the Prince!
SMU vs. USF
Cincy vs. Houston
Baylor vs. Okla. St.
Texas A&M vs. LSU
Mizzou vs. Ole Miss
Cowboys vs. Giants
Steelers vs. Browns
Colts vs. Cardinals
Broncos vs. Patriots
49ers vs. Redskins
overall
Demetrio Teniente
SMU 35-32
Houston
Baylor
LSU
Ole Miss
Cowboys
Browns
Cardinals
Broncos
49ers
62-58
Matthew costa
SMU 35-27
Cincy
Baylor
LSU
Mizzou
Giants
Steelers
Cardinals
Broncos
49ers
80-40
W. Tucker Keene
SMU 35-21
Cincy
Okla. St.
Texas A&M
Mizzou
Cowboys
Browns
Colts
Patriots
Redskins
76-44
Christopher Saul
SMU 35-27
Houston
Baylor
LSU
Ole Miss
Giants
Steelers
Cardinals
Broncos
49ers
67-53
Billy Embody
SMU 42-10
Cincy
Baylor
LSU
Mizzou
Cowboys
Browns
Colts
Broncos
Redskins
67-53
GAME
Where were you Nov. 22, 1963?
“
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
I was in Akron, Ohio. I was working for Goodyear and playing basketball for their industrial league team.I was on my way to North Carolina to get married and I heard on the radio that the president had been shot in Dallas. I had about a 12 hour drive. I remember in the small towns I went through people were running to the church. The whole time I was in my car I just heard accounts of what happened. He was a big hero of mine. I loved everything about him. That was a real sad day.
— larry brown
Head coach of SMU men’s basketball
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Complete the grid so that every row, column, and 3x3 box contains the digits 1-9. There is no guessing or math involved, just use logic to solve.
Solution: 11/20/13
Crossword Across 1 Brother of Raúl and Juanita 6 Purple candle scent 11 Poetic time reference 14 Tequila source 15 Month in Madrid 16 Sprinkling on French fries? 17 Uses as a reference 18 Many pets 19 For example 20 Calendar entry 21 Kyrgyzstan city 22 Construction beams 24 Julia's "Ocean's Twelve" role 25 Legend of the links 27 Old __, Connecticut 28 "They went __ in a Sieve, they did": Lear 30 Logan of "60 Minutes" 32 Words in a dish 34 Relinquish 36 Jazz double bassist Charlie 40 Web concerns ... and based on six familiar names hidden in rows 1, 4, 12 and 15 of this puzzle grid, what the black squares in those rows symbolize 43 West Texas city 44 Approaching 45 Tiny complaint 46 Uno y dos y tres 48 Migratory birds 50 Oaf 53 Some Staples employees 55 Bear whose bed was too hard 58 Source of much Indian tea 60 Sky light? 61 Pumpkin, e.g. 62 Moo __ pork 63 Graduated series 65 10th-century Holy Roman emperor 66 Mountain end 67 Increases, with "up" 68 "It Wasn't All Velvet" memoirist 69 Diddy ditty 70 Arraignment answers
71 "That's all __, dude": "Not my fault" Down 1 Aspect 2 "Just tell me" 3 Librarian's device 4 Nevertheless 5 Out of concern that 6 Summer quaff 7 Taken 8 More than harmful 9 Works on walls 10 Mozart's "__ fan tutte" 11 David Sedaris work 12 Lack faith in a truce, maybe 13 "Family Ties" mother 23 Space on a form 25 "I want results!" 26 Lawsuit goal 29 "__ Me While I Kiss This Guy": book of misheard lyrics 31 Loaded, in Limoges 32 Big club 33 Cyberchuckle 35 Predatory bird
37 Singer and longtime owner of baseball's Angels 38 Sch. 30 miles south of Providence 39 Bygone boomer 41 Elbows to nibble 42 Royal title 47 Bagel choice 49 Perfect
50 __ tag 51 "Ulysses" actor Milo 52 Take by force 54 Apology ending 56 Teaser 57 Parting mot 59 Dealership amt. 61 Attend 64 Western st.
Solution: 11/20/2013
8
NEWS
FRIDAY n NOVEMBER 22, 2013 Letters
Dear Mayor Cabell...
After the announcement on Nov. 22, 1963 that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, letters to Dallas’ Mayor Earle Cabell started pouring in.The letters ranged from sorrowful love for the city of Dallas to deep, enraged hatred toward the events that took place in the “city of hate.” SMU’s own DeGolyer Library archives this historical treasure trove. Compiled by Haley Thayer, Online Editor Dear Sir: ...History and time will never erase the time or place of this great tragedy. But history and time will record the step the people of Dallas, of Texas, and the entire United States took to repair the missing links in our philosophy... Your neighbors and fellow Americans, Man from England. Nov. 24, 1963
Your Honor; ...Dallas should make an enormous effort to become a living example of a community where justice, respect, and compassion for all men are not just goals but are realities. For until you aspire to this, you not only defame the principles of President Kennedy but you will be shunned by all Americans as a city of infamy. Student from Berkeley, Berkeley Calif. Nov. 24, 1963
"Don't Blame Dallas!" No one should blame the city - Dallas No should they blame her state for the awful thing that happened there, ‘Twas just a quick of fate... ...No finger should be pointed there over how the die was cast. There is no shame for you to bear, No guilt for you to claim, Just go on being really great, There’s no tarnish on your name. A Woman Nov. 25, 1963
Dear Mayor Cabell: ...Please clean up the stench still drifting westward from your blighted city... Man from Los Angeles, Calif. Nov. 25, 1963
Mayor Cabell, What kind of a stinking police department lets a strip-tease, criminal record man, kill, without any attempt to stop him?? Dallas must be a low corrupt city of the worst kind. You invite the murder of a President. It is to be hoped you and your kind are given the punishment you deserve. Man from Chicago Nov. 24, 1963
Mayor Cabell I vow never to set foot in your city again — I have allways found Dallas a city of bearbaiters, rabell-rousers and extremists. It is unfortunate that your city nurtured these elements — the country damns you and your town... Man from Houston Nov. 24, 1963
Mayor Cabell, Evil has no road map and it is found everywhere... Let us go forward then as a grateful nation, but a better nation, because President Kennedy strived to make it so... I ask the people of Dallas to accept this outstretched hand in understanding and tolerance, and a firm denial that your shame is yours alone. God help us, it belongs to us all. Woman from Dunkirk, N.Y. Nov. 26, 1963
Dear Sir: ...Your city has become a blemish on the complexion of human civilization. I wish to never visit you again and shall sever all contacts that I have with your city. These crimes are upon the hands of your city officials. Congratulations... you and your city will live forever in infamy. Man from Frankfort, Ind. Nov. 24, 1963
Sir: It could have happened in any city, in any state. Be remorseful as an America, but not as a citizen of Dallas. With the greatest sincerity I am. Very truly yours: Woman from St. Petersburg, Fla. Nov. 24, 1963
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
“
I was there to see the president come down Lemmon Avenue because my son was in kindergarten at Holy Trinity. I stood on the corner on Lemmon with the priest who gave last rites to the president at Parkland later that evening. It was Father Huber, he was so excited, he’d never seen a president before. I loved President Kennedy and all of the Kennedys. I watched, because I was a housewife, every time he was on the news. He was so charismatic and he was really my president. After we saw him go by, we went back to school and we were in the cafeteria when this little nun came running saying, “The president’s been shot.” We just couldn’t believe it. That weekend I remember we never left the TV. It was like the whole town was in mourning. It was such a moving, kind of sad experience that everyone remembers.
”
— dee powell
Executive assistant to the dean of Cox School of Business
Dear Mayor Cabell, All the people of Dallas are indeed fortunate to have you as their Mayor at a time like this. You have done and are doing all that is humanly possible. I believe the people of Dallas have complete faith in you and your administration. I personally appreciate all you have done and are doing for the city in which I live and call my home. Sincerely yours, Man from Dallas Nov. 25, 1963
Dear Mayor Cabell: ...The plain fact, it seems, is, the city of Dallas has been the unfortunate location for this evil grievance to commit itself. The people of Dallas suffer with the rest of our great nation... No one loved or respected the commander-in-chief more than the people of your town... Best wishes to the people of Dallas. Very truly yours, Man from Baltimore Nov. 25, 1963
Dear City of Dallas, Dallas, beloved city, if I could only hold you in my arms now and comfort you as you did me, I would crawl down there to you on my KNEES — right this very minute! Look up Dallas — you are not to blame! WE ALL ARE, every single American that breathes. This could have happened ANYWHERE! You just happened to be the spot where all of the bad Past came to a head. From all of this, good will come. And you will lead the way! I know, because I know you Dallas! GOOD MO’NIN DALLAS! IT’S A LOVELY MO’NIN! EVERYTHING’S GOOD ABOUT IT! JUST EVERYTHING! My love to you, Woman from Portland, Ore. Nov. 25, 1963
Where were you Nov. 22, 1963?
Dear Sir, In review of the recent incident in your city I think it would be fitting for you to have the name of Dallas changed to DISGRACE, Texas... Your city has not only been the scene of city and state-wide disgrace, but in the incident today has proven a city of National disgrace. Sincerely, Woman from Los Angeles Nov. 25, 1963
Dear ‘Dallas: ... I know I speak for many who share my feelings, that ‘Dallas’ should not be ashamed, as so many have stated... The state of Texas is known for its great size, and their hearts of the people just as big. So, stand tall with your heavy hearts and we too, share your sorrows... So day, I hope we are able to visit ‘Dallas’ — but not to visit a city marked tragedy, but to a city of courage! With heart felt feeling, Sincerely, Woman from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Nov. 24, 1963
“
Fifty years back in time. Sixth grade. Our teacher was Sister Mary Aloysius, the Mother Superior of St. Mary's School, located in a small blue-collar, working class town in northeast Ohio called Newton Falls. At roughly 2 p.m, there was a knock on the classroom door and a whisper to Sister Aloysius. She returned to the front of the classroom, asked us to kneel and to pray for the soul of President John F. Kennedy. SISTER: "Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord." CLASS: "And let perpetual light shine upon him." SISTER: "May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed." CLASS: "Rest in peace, amen." We were then dismissed from school. For the next 3 1/2 days, we experienced something unique in American history. To this day, I talk about this in my class on the “Politics of Change” and in my course with Tom Stone on “JFK: His Life, His Times, and His Legend.” In 1963, over 90 percent of American households owned a television set and from Friday afternoon through Monday, there was no entertainment programming or commercials. Instead, the public — from coast to coast — watched news reports from Dallas and Washington, the memorial services at the White House and the Capitol, the processions, the funeral mass and the burial of the president in Arlington National Cemetery. The public witnessed collective shock and grief along scenes that have become iconic — the poise of Mrs. Kennedy, the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, and the salute of young John F. Kennedy, Jr among them. We engaged in the national experience of mourning a president and experienced, via television, America's First National funeral.
— dennis simon
”
Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, political science
“
I was in the sixth grade, living in Longview in far northeast Texas, where JFK was not — due to his opposition to segregation — very popular. My elementary school had no science teacher (maybe they were “protecting” us from Darwin); therefore, most of the instruction we received in scientific matters came in the form of 30 minute black and white films they showed us every other Friday afternoon on an old projector that made so much noise you could barely hear the voiceover. At one point (it must have been about 2 p.m.) we became aware that our teacher, a handsome and strapping country boy who wore western shirts and cowboy boots every day of his life (even, I suspect, to church) returned to the classroom and stopped the film and, without bothering to turn on the lights, announced that the president had been shot in Dallas and was “presumed dead.” Then he started the film and left the room again. Being only 11 or 12, most of us were primarily concerned about whether the local high school football game that night would be postponed. It wasn’t.
— Tom Stone
Editor’s Note: These letters are verbatim, please excuse spelling and grammatical errors.
Senior lecturer, English
”
Flashback
The Daily Campus Archives
A look back at The Daily Campus’s coverage 50 years ago Emily Sims News Writer esims@smu.edu Today marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the United States. JFK’s tragic death was a defining moment in the nation’s history, having great impact on the city of Dallas. After the assassination, the city was subject to worldwide scrutiny. Now 50 years later, The Daily Campus reflects on its coverage of the assassination. The following are excerpts from the Nov. 27, 1963 issue of The Daily Campus. We are Guilty “The President of the United States is Dead. Governor John Connally is badly wounded. A
Dallas policeman is also dead. Now Lee Harvey Oswald has been shot down, and the lives of Mayor Earl Cabell and several Dallas lawyers have been threatened. Across the country Dallas is sharing in the blame for John F. Kennedy’s death. Perhaps the President could have been murdered anywhere, but it is significant that he was killed in Dallas. Certainly the incidents with President Johnson and Ambassador Stevenson and the prodigious number of extremist groups here portray a city full of unreasoning hate. But there cannot be a blanket indictment of Dallas any more than can the President’s murder be dismissed merely as the work of a procommunist mad-man... “We cannot fight hate with hate. We in Dallas and the rest of
the nation must bear our share of the blame for Friday’s nightmare. We must not let JFK’s death be for naught. Let it teach us a lesson we should not have needed — that freedom and liberty carry responsibility.” — Karen Anderson, Editor-in-Chief
as neighborhood or city assumes tremendous individual meaning. It seems profane to say that many Dallasites were concerned at the blame, which might be placed upon their city. But it is indeed a valid concern.” — Charles Drum, Asst. Editor
a man who stood for things that all men should stand for: freedom, equality of opportunity, world peace, and the elimination of prejudice and bigotry.” — John Hill, student body president
Hill Calls Beginning
“But perhaps the most tragic aspect of all is not that it did happen, but that it could happen. In a free, non-perfect society such as exists in the United States today, there can be no way to control such unknown maniacs as Lee Harvey Oswald. As the late and beloved Pres. JFK himself realized, any man with enough determination, who is willing to give up his own life, can assassinate the president.” — Skip Way, a student
Nation...” was the headline of this issue of The Daily Campus, which also featured the following two telegrams that SMU sent to Jackie Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson from John Hill.
Looking Forward Telegrams
Dallas & the Blame “It is impossible to talk rationally of assassination, for assassination is an irrational thing. But the effects of assassination and the actions there following may be either rational or otherwise, depending solely on the people. To those of us who live in Dallas, the unspeakable killing of the President constitutes great personal tragedy. Naturally any heinous act, committed within an area of personal identity, such
For
A
New
“Early Monday morning I boarded a plane for Washington to attend the funeral of a great man, the late president of the United States. Outwardly my attendance at the funeral was to represent the students of SMU in a tribute to President Kennedy, but inwardly I was going there in search of understanding, in search of why our country had been denied the life and leadership of
“A
Shot
Aimed
at
the
“Mrs. John F. Kennedy, The students of Southern Methodist University join you in mourning the tragic death of our president. Our prayers are with you and your family in the loss of a truly great man.” “President Lyndon B. Johnson, We, the students of Southern Methodist University pledge to you our full patriotic support and pray that god may bless and guide you and our nation.”