James R. Owen Oral History

James R. "Shorty" Owen is a good example of a surprise, on-the-spot oral history. He accompanied his friend, Darryl Conine, to The Sixth Floor Museum on January 15, 2002. Mr. Conine, who had worked in the Texas School Book Depository building when it was leased by John Sexton and Company, was scheduled to record an oral history (that had been rescheduled after the September 11th terrorist attacks a few months earlier). Prior to the interview with Mr. Conine, Mr. Owen shared that he had worked at Jaggers-Chiles-Stoval typesetting company in Dallas at the same time as Lee Harvey Oswald and had also been on Elm Street, on the other side of the Triple Underpass, at the time of the assassination. Curator Gary Mack was then quite eager to record an on-the-spot interview with Owen, which took place immediately after Mr. Conine's interview.

Following this 2002 interview, Mr. Owen returned to the Museum for a second oral history in 2015. His friend, Darryl Conine, also returned for a follow-up interview in 2013. Conine's 2013 oral history may be found here: https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/38410/. - Stephen Fagin, Curator