Rick Lane Oral History

Object number2009.001.0044

Date06/26/2009

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interview subject Rick Lane

Oral history interviewer Stephen Fagin

ObjectOral history

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

MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file)

DimensionsDuration: 54 Minutes

Terms

Collections

DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Rick Lane. The owner of Lane Container Company in Dallas, Lane was hired by the Dallas County Historical Foundation in 1988 to produce hundreds of replica schoolbook boxes for the two recreated evidentiary areas in The Sixth Floor exhibit. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on June 26, 2009 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is fifty-four minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

As explained in this interview, Rick Lane went to extraordinary lengths to recreate the cardboard schoolbook boxes for The Sixth Floor exhibit. This included detailed measurements of the original boxes at the National Archives as well as contacting publishers to obtain vintage rubber dyes to match the Scott Foresman imprint on the side of the boxes. His work was so meticulous, in fact, that the Museum has been contacted by researchers and filmmakers over the years to provide detailed photographs of the replica boxes for various projects. One of the more unique instances was for the creation of replica boxes for use in the 2004 Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical, Assassins, which won five Tony Awards. The revival also received a Tony Award nomination for Best Scenic Design of a Musical. - Stephen Fagin, Curator