John Sparks Oral History

Object number2006.001.0050

Date10/06/2006

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interviewer John Sparks

Oral history interviewer Stephen Fagin

ObjectOral history

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

MediumHi-8 videotape

DimensionsDuration: 53 Minutes

Terms

Collections

DescriptionA veteran Dallas/Fort Worth broadcast producer and journalist for more than four decades, Sparks saved the original WFAA-TV/Channel 8 films and videotapes of Kennedy assassination news coverage from being destroyed in the early 1980s. On November 22, 1963, as a trumpet player in the Eastern Hills High School band, Sparks performed at the presidential breakfast at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on October 6, 2006 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is fifty-three minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

A longtime friend of The Sixth Floor Museum, John Sparks recorded a second oral history on January 13, 2016. He has also taken part in several Living History educational programs for student groups, including this conversation in 2016: Living History with John Sparks - YouTube. In 2014, Sparks moderated a panel discussion with 1963 Dallas Times Herald photographers in 2015, which may be viewed here: Dallas Times Herald 1963 - YouTube. - Stephen Fagin, Curator