Dr. Julie Leininger Pycior Oral History
Object number2021.001.0039
Date06/01/2021
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
Dr. Julie Leininger Pycior
Oral history interviewer
Stephen Fagin
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file), Born digital (.m4a file), Born digital (.mp4 file)
DimensionsDuration: 71 Minutes
Terms
- Oral histories
- Author
- Student
- 1960 presidential election
- Presidential campaign
- Civil rights
- 1960s
- Mexico
- Race relations
- Segregation
- Integration
- Racism
- Literature
- Catholicism
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Cold War
- Television
- Education
- Social and political climate
- Democrats
- Labor organizations
- Foreign policy
- Legislation
- Poor People's Campaign
- Economy
- 1968 presidential election
- Johnson, Lyndon B.
- Gonzalez, Henry B.
- Chavez, Cesar
- Kennedy, Robert F.
- John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
- White House
- Viva Kennedy
- New York
- Mexico
- Michigan
- Dallas and 1960s History and Culture (OHC)
- 1960 Campaign (OHC)
- Authors, Filmmakers, and Researchers (OHC)
- Childhood Recollections (OHC)
- Civil Rights and Social Activism (OHC)
- Chicano History and Culture (OHC)
Collections
- All Online Objects
- Oral History Collection
- Poor People's Campaign
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Dr. Julie Leininger Pycior. Professor emeritus of history at Manhattan College, Pycior is author of the award-winning book, "LBJ and Mexican Americans" (1997). She was attending Catholic school in Michigan at the time of the Kennedy assassination.
Interview conducted over Zoom on June 1, 2021 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is one hour and eleven minutes long.
Curatorial CommentaryIn 2024, Dr. Julie Leininger Pycoir participated in a program with the International Thomas Merton Society about her book, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and the Greatest Commandment (2020). She discusses in depth the contents and research process of her book and how it fits into modern topics and crises. The interview may be viewed on YouTube here: Julie Leininger Pycior. - Riley Harris, Collections Cataloger
As discussed in this interview, Kennedy Corridos are a genre of Mexican-American folk ballads (corridos) created in response to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The Kennedy Corridos: A Study of the Ballads of a Mexican American Hero (1978), by Dan Williams Dickey, analyzes these musical tributes and their impact on Mexican-American culture. The rare title can be found in the Museum's Library here: Bibliovation | Details for The Kennedy corridos. - Riley Harris, Collections Cataloger
Dr. Julie Leininger Pycior is the author of multiple books, including Democratic Renewal and the Mutual Aid Legacy of U.S. Mexicans (2014) and Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and the Greatest Commandment (2020). Her award-winning LBJ & Mexican Americans was published by the University of Texas Press in 1997. That book examined the complicated and occasionally contradictory relationship between Lyndon Johnson and Mexican Americans from his early days, teaching at a segregated school in Cotulla, Texas, to his Great Society programs as president of the United States. As of 2026, the book remains in print in paperback and as an e-publication: LBJ and Mexican Americans. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
The Museum's Oral History Collection includes several interviews that discuss Chicano History and Culture. These interviews highlight the Mexican-American experience, in places such as Texas, Mexico, and Cuba; outlining hardships, activism, and community. These interviews may be viewed on the Museum's online database here: Thesaurus – Vocabularies – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. - Riley Harris, Collections Cataloger
