Billy Kennedy Oral History

Object number2008.001.0015

Date02/21/2008

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interview subject Billy Kennedy

Oral history interviewer Stephen Fagin

ObjectOral history

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

MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file)

DimensionsDuration: 31 Minutes

Terms

Collections

DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Billy Kennedy. A junior at North Dallas High School in 1963, Kennedy observed the presidential motorcade on Main Street and had the opportunity to briefly shake hands with the president. On Sunday, November 24, 1963, he was being treated for a broken wrist in the Parkland Memorial Hospital emergency room when Lee Harvey Oswald arrived after being shot in the basement of Dallas police headquarters. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on February 21, 2008 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is thirty-one minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

Billy Kennedy was playing football with friends at Lee Park in Dallas when he broke his wrist on Sunday, November 24, 1963. He remembers that his wrist was being set in Parkland Memorial Hospital's Emergency Room when Lee Harvey Oswald arrived after being shot by Jack Ruby. The Museum's Parkland Hospital Collection includes a single page of the Registration of Patients for November 24, 1963 (1994.001.0002.0027). Oswald is the last name on the page with an arrival time of 11:32AM (after being shot at 11:21AM in the basement of Dallas police headquarters). This particular page covers all arrivals at Parkland's Emergency Room between 10:13AM and 11:32AM. While there are a couple of injured arms on the list, Billy Kennedy's name does not appear, indicating that he must have arrived at Parkland prior to 10:13AM. Assuming that Kennedy had to wait before being treated, and then have an X-ray taken, it makes sense that his wrist may have been set at least 90 minutes or more after arriving in the Emergency Room. - Stephen Fagin, Curator