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Keith Shelton's courtroom press pass from the 1964 Jack Ruby trial
Keith Shelton's courtroom press pass from the 1964 Jack Ruby trial

Keith Shelton's courtroom press pass from the 1964 Jack Ruby trial

Object number1998.023.0021.0003
Date1964
ClassificationsArtifacts
ObjectPress pass
Credit LineKeith Shelton Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumPaper
Dimensions2 3/4 × 3 3/4 in. (7 × 9.5 cm)
Collections
  • "On Assignment: Dallas Times Herald 1963"
  • All Online Objects
DescriptionKeith Shelton's press courtroom pass used during Ruby trial. A small, red, paper identification card, with an attached black and white portrait-style photograph. The red paper is a thick, cardstock-like material. On the right side of the front of the ID card is black text reading, "PRESS COURTROOM." Underneath this are two lines with type reading, "Keith Shelton/ Dallas Times Herald." At the bottom is the number "030." To the left of this is the black and white image of a man with a mustache and glasses, with the top of the collar of his suit and tie showing, and is glued onto the red paper. On the reverse side of this ID, handwritten in black ink is "RUBY TRIAL/ 1964." A political reporter for the Dallas Times Herald, Shelton traveled with the presidential party throughout Texas and later covered the Jack Ruby trial. He donated his Kennedy-related personal papers to the Museum. His oral histories were recorded February 23, 1998, and January 12, 2011.
Curatorial Commentary
The Museum's Keith Shelton Collection (1998.023) includes the notebook that Shelton used while covering the Kennedys' visit to Texas in November 1963, as well as press credentials, his wife's invitation to the Dallas Trade Mart luncheon, draft stories, news clippings and press releases. Keith Shelton passed away on December 11, 2024. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
The image of Keith Shelton found on this object is featured in the Museum's special exhibit, "On Assignment: Dallas Times Herald 1963," which opened on April 29, 2026.
A political reporter at the Dallas Times Herald, Keith Shelton traveled with the presidential party during the trip to Texas in November 1963. Aboard a White House press bus in the motorcade, he heard shots fired in Dealey Plaza and went to the Dallas Trade Mart. He later covered the Jack Ruby trial in 1964. Shelton, a longtime journalism professor at the University of North Texas, donated his assassination-related papers to the Museum.

As a longtime friend of the Museum, he recorded two oral history interviews and a public program. His interview from January 2011 may be viewed in the Museum’s online collections database here: Keith Shelton Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

Other objects related to Mr. Shelton may be found here: Thesaurus – Vocabularies – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. - Riley Harris, Collections Cataloger