Dr. William R. Beavers Oral History
Object number2013.001.0058
Date05/08/2013
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
William R. Beavers
Oral history interviewer
Stephen Fagin
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file)
DimensionsDuration: 48 Minutes
Collections
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Dr. William R. Beavers. A psychiatrist at Woodlawn Hospital in Dallas, Beavers was at Parkland Memorial Hospital when the Kennedy assassination took place. Later, following the 1964 Jack Ruby trial, Beavers was hired by the Ruby family to conduct a psychiatric evaluation of Ruby. Beavers spent eleven hours with Ruby and was present for his polygraph test.
Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on May 8, 2013 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is forty-eight minutes long.
Curatorial CommentaryDr. William R. Beavers passed away on October 24, 2019. The Museum's Dr. William R. Beavers Collection (2013.052), donated at the time of this oral history, includes nearly fifty items related to the psychiatric treatment of Jack Ruby in 1963-64. The collection includes reports, correspondence, clippings and other materials. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
Shortly before the Jack Ruby trial, Dr. Beavers testified at the change-of-venue hearing in February 1964, which was an unsuccessful effort by Ruby's defense attorneys to move the high-profile trial outside of Dallas. Dr. Beavers' testimony can be read here in the change-of-venue transcript, volume 3: https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/66756. His testimony runs ten pages total (page 559-569). - Stephen Fagin, Curator
02/12/1964 - 02/14/1964
