Lois Louise Oral History

Object number2007.001.0030

Date05/18/2007

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interview subject Lois Louise

Oral history interviewer Stephen Fagin

ObjectOral history

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

MediumHi-8 videotape

DimensionsDuration: 58 Minutes

Terms

Collections

DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Lois Louise, a social studies teacher at an all African American school in Dallas in 1963. She provided insight into local race relations in the early 1960s and shared her students' reaction to the Kennedy assassination. In 1965, Louise opened a clothing store called Dashika House, the first store in south Dallas owned by an African American woman. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on May 18, 2007 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is fifty-eight minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

Lois Louise visited the Museum on May 18, 2007 and attended a gallery talk that I presented about Dallas law enforcement. She approached me after the program and shared her memories of the assassination. When I invited her back to the Museum for an oral history at some point, she suggested that we just record the interview that very day. Although somewhat rare, spontaneous oral histories like this one are always exciting challenges because, without any opportunity to research or prepare, one never knows where the conversation will go.

Ms. Louise passed away on May 24, 2012. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator