James F. Dahman Oral History
Object number2010.001.0088
Date08/06/2010
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
James F. Dahman
Oral history interviewer
Stephen Fagin
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file)
DimensionsDuration: 41 Minutes
Terms
- Oral histories
- Trade Mart luncheon
- Autopsy
- Investigations
- Evidence
- Dahman, James F.
- Kennedy, John F.
- Oswald, Lee Harvey
- Oswald, Marina
- Oswald, Marguerite
- Oswald, Robert
- Parkland Hospital
- Dallas Police Department
- Dallas
- Law Enforcement (OHC)
- Parkland Memorial Hospital (OHC)
- Dallas Trade Mart (OHC)
- Lee Harvey Oswald (OHC)
- Dallas and 1960s History and Culture (OHC)
Collections
- Oral History Collection
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with James F. Dahman. A sergeant with the Dallas Police Department in 1963, Dahman was assigned to Dallas Trade Mart luncheon. Following the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald that Sunday, Dahman was present for Oswald's autopsy and family viewing of his body at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Following a twenty-seven-year career, Dahman retired from the Dallas Police Department in 1981 as Executive Assistant Chief of Police.
Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on August 6, 2010 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is forty-one minutes.
Curatorial CommentaryJames Frederick Dahman passed away on July 16, 2012 at the age of 83. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
Although he served as second-in-command of the Dallas Police Department for seven years (1974-1981), according to The Dallas Morning News, James F. Dahman was twice offered (and declined) the top-ranking position of Dallas Police Chief. According to a news source in 1979, Dahman "was not enthralled by the salary or prestige" that accompanied the top job at the department. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
