James H. Dorman Oral History

Object number2002.001.0042

Date11/18/2002

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interview subject James H. Dorman

Oral history interviewer Stephen Fagin

ObjectOral history

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

MediumHi-8 videotape

DimensionsDuration: 47 Minutes

Terms

Collections

DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with James H. Dorman. Dorman was the son of the late Elsie Dorman, a secretary at Scott Foresman publishing company who worked inside the Texas School Book Depository building in 1963. Elsie Dorman captured a unique home movie of the Kennedy motorcade from the fourth floor. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on November 18, 2002 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is forty-seven minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

Elsie Theresa Smith Dorman (1906-1983) was a secretary at Scott Foresman and Company publishers and worked on the fourth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Using her husband's 8mm camera, she captured a shaky though unique view of the Kennedy limousine on Houston Street. Hers is the only known home movie taken from inside the Texas School Book Depository.

Dorman was interviewed by the FBI in Dallas the day after the Kennedy assassination. According to the FBI report of that interview, Elsie Dorman "heard sounds which sounded like shots. She felt that these shots were coming from the area of the Records Building. She stated she had seen no one whom she could associate with the shots during or after the shots were fired and was unable to provide any additional information."

The Dorman film, donated to the Museum in 1995, may be viewed here: https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/11267. Her Kodak Brownie 8mm movie camera can be found here: https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/24344. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Curatorial Commentary

James H. Dorman passed away on March 21, 2015. - Stephen Fagin, Curator