Rose Marie Simmons Living History Program

Object number2009.001.0021

Date03/30/2009

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interview subject Rose Marie Simmons

Oral history interviewer Stephen Fagin

ObjectOral history

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

MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file)

DimensionsDuration: 38 Minutes

Terms

Collections

DescriptionVideotaped Living History educational program with Rose Marie Simmons. A lifelong Texan with a local heritage dating back many generations, Simmons shook hands with President Kennedy at Dallas Love Field on November 22, 1963. Less than a month later, she received a poignant response to a letter she had written to Evelyn Lincoln, the late president’s personal secretary, shortly after the assassination. Program conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on March 30, 2009 by Stephen Fagin. The program is thirty-eight minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

Dallas native Rose Marie Simmons recorded an oral history with the Museum in 2002. Her poignant story about shaking hands with President Kennedy and later writing to the late president's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, made her an excellent featured guest for the Museum's newly-launched Living History educational program series. I was very fortunate to share the stage with Rose Marie twice - in 2008 and at this program in 2009 - before her untimely passing at the age of 65 on February 24, 2012.

On the same day as this 2009 Living History program, Rose Marie's sister, Sherry Simmons, recorded her own oral history about seeing President and Mrs. Kennedy at Dallas Love Field on November 22, 1963. Like her sister, we sadly lost Sherry too soon at the age of 70 in 2017. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Curatorial Commentary

Shortly after the passing of Rose Marie Simmons in 2012, her sister Sherry made a donation to the Museum in her memory. The Rose Marie Simmons Collection (2012.030) includes the framed letter and photo that Rose Marie received from Evelyn Lincoln that was shown and discussed during this 2009 program, as well as Rose Marie's 1964 W.W. Samuell High School yearbook and a 1960 letter from the Kennedy campaign. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Curatorial Commentary

In addition to Rose Marie Simmons and her sister Sherry, several W.W. Samuell High School alumni have recorded interviews with the Museum over the years, including Ronald Cantrell, Paul Fuller, David Wallace, Will O'Hara, Charles Hodges and 1963 history teachers Ann Crane and Winston Hoskins. - Stephen Fagin, Curator