Scott Foresman and Company Linguistic Block Series Set

At the time of the assassination in 1963, the southeast corner of the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository contained boxes of books from Scott Foresman and Company education publishers. Although the company was most famous for their "Dick and Jane" series of early readers, Scott Foresman published a wide variety of titles for preschools and schools across the country. Some of the boxes found in the sniper's perch area, including the two boxes closest to the brick window ledge, were stamped "Ten Rolling Readers." Although most might assume that these boxes contained ten books, Rolling Readers were not actually books at all. In their 1964 Report, the Warren Commission noted that the Rolling Readers cartons near the window ledge "contained, instead of books, light blocks used as reading aids. They [the boxes] could be easily adjusted and were still solid enough to serve as a gun rest." In fact, the Rolling Readers were part of an educational linguistic block series. A description from 1970 explains: "Though not a reading series, the linguistic blocks could be described as a tool to aid in the teaching of the following aspects of linguistics: the alphabetic principle, major spelling patters and basic sentence patterns. The plastic blocks are arranged in a series of five sets, including these 'Rolling Readers,' one set for consonants, and one for vowels." This copyright 1963 box of Scott Foresman linguistic blocks, labeled "Rolling Phonics - Consonants," is similar to the block sets found in the "Ten Rolling Readers" boxes located in the sniper's perch on November 22, 1963. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator