Alphonse C. Matthews Oral History
Object number2002.001.0036
Date09/25/2002
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
Alphonse Matthews
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumHi-8 videotape
DimensionsDuration: 46 Minutes
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Alphonse C. Matthews. An employee of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in Dallas from 1955 to 1986, Matthews was a switchman at the time of the assassination and recalled communications chaos following the president's death. He also described local segregation and race relations in the 1960s.
Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on September 25, 2002 by Arlinda Abbott and Stephen Fagin. The interview is forty-seven minutes long.
Curatorial CommentarySome fifteen years after retiring from Southwestern Bell, Matthews came to work in the security department of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. This interview was recorded around the one-year anniversary of his employment. I enjoyed working with Al for several years and remember him as a very kind and exceedingly generous gentleman. In this interview, he describes working at the Museum as "really exciting... because it's such an interesting place to work. You meet people from all over the world." Al often chatted with visitors and shared his personal memories of November 22, 1963. We were all very sorry to see Al retire from the Museum in the mid-2000s. He passed away several years later on January 26, 2019. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
