Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Dr. Luther Holcomb Oral History
Dr. Luther Holcomb Oral History

Dr. Luther Holcomb Oral History

Object number1992.009.0007
Date08/27/1992
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject Luther Holcomb
Oral history interviewer Wes Wise
Oral history interviewer Bob Porter
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumHi-8 videotape
Dimensions2 3/4 × 4 × 3/4 in. (7 × 10.2 × 1.9 cm)
Duration: 110 Minutes
Collections
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Dr. Luther Holcomb. Director of the Dallas Council of Churches in 1963, Holcomb was a longtime religious and civic leader involved in the city's integration efforts. He was among those who greeted the Kennedys at Dallas Love Field and later gave a prayer at the Dallas Trade Mart luncheon after news of the shooting reached the attendees. Interview conducted at Dr. Luther's home on August 27, 1992 by Wes Wise and Bob Porter. The interview is one hour and fifty minutes long.
Curatorial Commentary
Dr. Luther Holcomb (1911-2003) was among those public and behind-the-scenes leaders in Dallas who insisted that the city avoid the racial violence seen in other southern cities and pushed for peaceful integration of stores, restaurants, and hotels. As a result of Holcomb's early efforts towards desegregation, he was appointed as the Texas representative to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in 1961. A few years later, in 1965, President Johnson named Holcomb the vice chairman to enforce employment opportunity provisions in the newly passed Civil Rights Act of 1964. He was reappointed for a second term by President Nixon in 1970. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator