Dr. Luther Holcomb Oral History

Object number1992.009.0007

Date08/27/1992

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interview subject Luther Holcomb

Oral history interviewer Wes Wise

Oral history interviewer Bob Porter

ObjectOral history

Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumHi-8 videotape

Dimensions2 3/4 × 4 × 3/4 in. (7 × 10.2 × 1.9 cm)
Duration: 110 Minutes

Terms

Collections

DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Dr. Luther Holcomb. Director of the Dallas Council of Churches in 1963, Holcomb was a longtime religious and civic leader involved in the city's integration efforts. He was among those who greeted the Kennedys at Dallas Love Field and later gave a prayer at the Dallas Trade Mart luncheon after news of the shooting reached the attendees. Interview conducted at Dr. Luther's home on August 27, 1992 by Wes Wise and Bob Porter. The interview is one hour and fifty minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

Dr. Luther Holcomb (1911-2003) was among those public and behind-the-scenes leaders in Dallas who insisted that the city avoid the racial violence seen in other southern cities and pushed for peaceful integration of stores, restaurants, and hotels. As a result of Holcomb's early efforts towards desegregation, he was appointed as the Texas representative to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in 1961. A few years later, in 1965, President Johnson named Holcomb the vice chairman to enforce employment opportunity provisions in the newly passed Civil Rights Act of 1964. He was reappointed for a second term by President Nixon in 1970. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator