"Call to Action: Exhibit Introduction" Program

Object number2006.001.0059

Date04/20/2006

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interview subject Dr. Darwin Payne

Oral history interviewer Nicola Longford

ObjectOral history

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

MediumHi-8 videotape

DimensionsDuration: 24 Minutes

Terms

Collections

All Online Objects
Oral History Collection

DescriptionVideotaped "Call to Action" opening reception program featuring Dallas historian and author Dr. Darwin Payne, with introductory remarks by Sixth Floor Museum executive director Nicola Longford. This program, which provided a brief overview of Dallas social activism in the 1960s, launched the Museum's 2006 "Call to Action" public program series. Program recorded at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on April 20, 2006. The program is twenty-four minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

This introductory program featuring Dr. Darwin Payne launched the Museum's first public program series, "Call to Action," which explored the Kennedy legacy within the context of local social activism in the 1960s. The series coincided with the special exhibit, "Call to Action," which ran at the Museum from April to October 2006.

Programs in the "Call to Action" series included:

"The Gay Rights Movement in Dallas" on July 12, 2006: Call To Action: The Gay Rights Movement in Dallas

"An Evening with Vivian Castleberry" on August 2, 2006: Call To Action: Vivian Castleberry

"The SNCC Experience in Dallas" on September 6, 2006: Call To Action: The SNCC Experience in Dallas

"La Calle to City Hall" on September 27, 2006: Call To Action: La Calle to City Hall

"Little Mexico" on October 18, 2006: Call To Action: Little Mexico

"The Disability Rights Movement" on October 25, 2006: Call To Action: The Disability Rights Movement

--Stephen Fagin, Curator

Curatorial Commentary

Program speaker Dr. Darwin Payne covered the Kennedy assassination in 1963 as a reporter with the Dallas Times Herald. He later became a journalism professor at Southern Methodist University as well as a noted Dallas historian and author. Dr. Payne recorded oral histories at the Museum in 1995 (Dr. Darwin Payne Oral History – Search payne (Objects) – Search – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza) and 2012 (Dr. Darwin Payne Oral History – Search payne (Objects) – Search – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza) and participated in a number of public programs, including - most recently - a 2023 Living History: Living History with Dr. Darwin Payne | 2023.

Several of Dr. Payne's books may be found here in the Museum's Library Collection: Bibliovation | Catalog Search Results. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Curatorial Commentary

Interestingly, some six years before the Museum launched its YouTube channel as a permanent home for its educational and public program recordings, this brief lecture by Dr. Darwin Payne was the very first Museum program to be made available online. As a way of promoting the 2006 "Call to Action" series, a low-resolution MPG video file was available for download on the Museum's website (jfk.org) throughout the run of the "Call to Action" exhibit. It can still be seen today in this July 2006 capture of the Museum's website in the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (Call to Action). Since the Museum launched its YouTube channel in 2012, hundreds of programs and special events have been made accessible online, including most of the programs that made up the 2006 "Call to Action" series: SixthFloorMuseum - YouTube. - Stephen Fagin, Curator