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Frank Velasco Oral History

Object number2013.001.0163
Date05/16/2013
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
Oral history interviewer
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.wav file)
DimensionsDuration: 15 Minutes
Collections
  • All Online Objects
  • Oral History Collection
DescriptionAudio oral history interview with Frank Velasco. A member of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Velasco briefly saw President and Mrs. Kennedy at the organization's annual conference at the Rice Hotel in Houston on November 21, 1963. Interview conducted via telephone on May 16, 2013 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is fifteen minutes long.
Curatorial Commentary

Roy Botello's 8mm home movie of the Kennedys at the Houston LULAC dinner received brief international attention when it was initially shared by San Antonio ABC affiliate KVUE in 2010 and donated the following year to The Sixth Floor Museum. In 2012, when Trey Velasco in Houston watched the full four-minute Botello film here in our online database, he recognized both his parents and grandparents in the crowd. According to Trey, his family is visible from timecode 3:27 to 3:35 in the film: https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/32261. Trey's grandmother can be seen wearing a white fur coat, followed by the rest of the family. Excited by this discovery, Trey Velasco initially reached out to the Midland Reporter Telegram, which published this story by Audrie Palmer on November 20, 2012: Fort Stockton man remembers seeing JFK day before assassination (mrt.com). A few months later, Trey also reached out to our Museum, which led to us recording this telephone oral history with his father, Frank Velasco, Jr. - Stephen Fagin, Curator