Peter Jennings Oral History

This particular oral history was a surprisingly personal experience for me. Growing up in the 1980s, my "Kennedy assassination" moment was the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, and I vividly remember following the news that day by watching Peter Jennings on ABC. In the middle of our 2004 oral history session, when Jennings happened to mention that the Challenger was one of his most memorable news stories, I was briefly transported back to that childhood recollection as I sat chatting with the newsman who served as my "Walter Cronkite" figure during that national tragedy. My voice broke just slightly on camera.

Mr. Jennings passed away on August 7, 2005. His oral history, along with KRLD-TV news footage showing him in the hallway of Dallas police headquarters, was featured in the Museum's "Covering Chaos" exhibit in 2005-06. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Part of this recording was incorporated into the video content of the Museum's temporary exhibit, "Mourning a President," about the funeral and mourning rites for President John F. Kennedy. The exhibit was open on the Museum's seventh floor from November 17, 2017 to February 19, 2018. -- Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections