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Bill Holt Oral History

Bill Holt Oral History

Object number2008.001.0051
Date06/26/2008
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject Bill Holt
Oral history interviewer Stephen Fagin
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file)
Dimensions41 Minutes
Collections
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Bill Holt. Holt was hired as credit manager at the Texas School Book Depository less than a year before the company moved out of the infamous 411 Elm Street warehouse. He worked for the company for approximately nine years and heard many assassination-related stories from fellow co-workers and managers. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on June 26, 2008 by Associate Curator Stephen Fagin. The interview is 41 minutes long.
Curatorial Commentary
During this oral history, Mr. Holt recalls that he was hired by the Texas School Book Depository Company in July 1970. However, based on his recollections, it was likely July 1969. Holt vividly recalls working for a time inside the infamous 411 Elm Street warehouse shortly before the Texas School Book Depository Company moved to a new facility on Ambassador Row in Dallas. This move was finished by the spring of 1970, and the 411 Elm property was swiftly sold at auction to music promoter Aubrey Mayhew. If hired in the summer of 1970, Holt would never have worked in the 411 Elm warehouse.

When Holt was hired as the company's credit manager, he gave little thought to the building's infamous connection to the Kennedy assassination. "I just thought it was an everyday place," he recalled. However, he soon discovered that there was persistent tourist interest in his workplace. He remembered, "Got my picture made several thousand times coming in and out of the building at lunch." -- Stephen Fagin, Curator