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"Eyewitness to History: Jack Daniel" Program

"Eyewitness to History: Jack Daniel" Program

Object number2008.001.0021
Date04/08/2008
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file)
Dimensions31 Minutes
Collections
  • Home Movies
  • Dallas Motorcade
  • All Online Objects
  • Oral History Collection
DescriptionVideotaped public program titled "Eyewitness to History: Jack Daniel." Daniel was standing on the west side of the triple underpass with his home movie camera and captured the motorcade on film seconds after the assassination took place. He returned to Dealey Plaza later that weekend to take film of the flowers and memorial tributes left by mourners and also to show a wider view of where he and his sons were standing at the time of the assassination. Program conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on April 8, 2008. The program is thirty-one minutes long.
Curatorial Commentary

The Museum's "Eyewitness to History" daytime program series complemented our special exhibit, Filming Kennedy: Home Movies from Dallas (November 2007 - October 2008). Five filmmakers participated in lectures or conversations between February and June 2008, including this presentation by Jack W. Daniel. The other filmmakers were Tina Towner Pender, Maury Seitz, Jackie Tindel (Eyewitness To History: Jackie Tindel), and George Jefferies (George Jefferies Living History Program – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza). Each program was held at 11:00AM in the Museum's Seventh Floor Gallery. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Jack W. Daniel passed away on March 22, 2015. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
The Museum's special exhibit, Filming Kennedy: Home Movies from Dallas (November 2007 - October 2008) featured an extraordinary twenty-minute compilation of home movies, narrated by the late Gary Mack. That video, which includes Jack W. Daniel's 8mm home movie of the Kennedy motorcade following the assassination, was later featured in a 2012 public program. It may be seen here: "Meet the Museum: Spotlight on Home Movies" Program – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. - Stephen Fagin, Curator   

In addition to this public program, Jack W. Daniel recorded a videotaped oral history on February 11, 1997 (Jack W. Daniel Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza), and participated in a group interview with other Dealey Plaza eyewitnesses on November 22, 1996 ("The Photographers Remember" Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza). His son, Danny Daniel, also recorded an oral history in 2021. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Jack's short film of the Kennedy motorcade came to the attention of the House Select Committee on Assassinations in late 1978 after one of his sons told a Denver Post reporter about it and word eventually got to the Committee.  Since the film surfaced so late during the investigation, the HSCA recommended that the FBI should examine it.  It's not clear what, if anything, was done.  The film, made from west of the triple underpass outside Dealey Plaza, begins about 15 seconds after the shooting ended so it shows nothing of the assassination. - Gary Mack, Curator