DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Gail Williams. A sophomore at Woodrow Wilson High School in 1963, Williams observed the Kennedy motorcade on Main Street. She recalled hearing a shot fired in Dealey Plaza shortly after the presidential limousine passed her location.
Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on February 3, 2006 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is twenty-one minutes long.
Curatorial Commentary
A surprising number of Kennedy motorcade spectators on Main Street recall hearing shots or echoes of shots fired in Dealey Plaza. While some may have actually heard a motorcycle backfire amidst the crowd noise and associated it with gunfire after learning about the shooting, those standing at or near the intersection of Main and Houston Streets very likely heard at least part of the assassination as the sounds reverberated off of nearby buildings. In addition to Ms. Williams, the Museum has interviewed a number of Main Street ear-witnesses, including Katherine Adams, Joe Bagley, Ronald Duckworth, Peggy Hill, Ed Kadleck, Frances Moffeit, Victoria Rodriguez, John Seeligson, Jenny Taylor, Lemma Tole, William Kim Wade and Bill Wiseman. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
Established in 1928 on South Glasgow Drive in Dallas, Woodrow Wilson High School is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. The school boasts a number of notable alumni, including Dallas real estate developer Trammell Crow, Dallas mayor Jack Evans, automotive designer Carroll Shelby and U.S. Congressman Jim Mattox. In addition to Gail Williams, several Woodrow Wilson alumni have recorded oral histories with the Museum over the years, including Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright (Lawrence Wright Oral History – Search lawrence wright (Objects) – Search – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza); Kathy Kilmore Moak, editor of The Confusion and the Quiet (2013); and Barbara Adamson, co-founder of the Woodrow Wilson High School Alumni Association, Inc. (Barbara Adamson Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza). - Stephen Fagin, Curator
