"50th Anniversary Eyewitness Panel" Program

Object number2013.001.0147

Date11/20/2013

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interview subject W. E. Barnett

Oral history interview subject Rickey Chism

Oral history interview subject Eugene Boone

Oral history interview subject Ronald C. Jones

Oral history interview subject Bob Jackson

Oral history interviewer Stephen Fagin

ObjectOral history

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

MediumBorn digital (.mov file)

DimensionsDuration: 58 Minutes

Collections

DescriptionVideotaped panel discussion with five individuals involved in the Kennedy assassination story on November 22, 1963. This panel discussion was one of two special "open house" press events in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination in 2013. The panelists included (left to right) W.E. "Gene" Barnett, the closest Dallas police officer to the Texas School Book Depository entrance at the time of the assassination; Rickey Chism, a three-year-old assassination eyewitness who was with his family in Dealey Plaza; Eugene Boone, the Dallas County deputy sheriff who discovered the rifle on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository; Dr. Ronald C. Jones, chief surgery resident in Parkland Memorial Hospital's emergency room on November 22, 1963; and Bob Jackson, a photographer with the Dallas Times Herald who was in the motorcade and saw a rifle in the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository building. The program, moderated by Stephen Fagin, took place at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on November 20, 2013. The program is fifty-eight minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

The 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination in November 2013 generated an unprecedented amount of news media attention from around the world. To accomodate local and visiting journalists, The Sixth Floor Museum presented two "open house" news media panel discussions on November 20, 2013. The first featured Museum curators Gary Mack and Stephen Fagin. It may be viewed here on the Museum's YouTube channel: JFK Assassination 50th Anniversary Media Open House - Staff Panel (youtube.com). The second panel discussion featured five individuals who were in some way involved in the events of November 22, 1963. All five panelists had previously recorded oral history interviews with the Museum and four of the five also took part in various public programs over the years.

W.E. "Gene" Barnett recorded an oral history on January 18, 2013 (https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/38314). He passed away on May 10, 2024.

Rickey Chism recorded an oral history alongside his late mother, Marvin Faye Chism, on January 11, 2012 (Marvin Faye and Rickey Chism Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (jfk.org)). He also participated in Museum programs in 2013 and 2015.

Eugene Boone recorded oral histories with the Museum in 2003 (Eugene Boone Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (jfk.org)) and 2014. He also participated in several Museum programs between 2006 and 2014. He passed away on October 28, 2017.

Dr. Ronald C. Jones recorded oral histories with the Museum in 1997 (Dr. Ronald C. Jones Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (jfk.org)) and 2013. He also participated in several Museum programs between 2005 and 2013.

Bob Jackson recorded an oral history on the thirtieth anniversary of the assassination, November 22, 1993 (Bob Jackson Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (jfk.org)). He later participated in a number of public and educational programs between 2007 and 2016. - Stephen Fagin, Curator