John G. Kays Oral History
Object number2023.001.0029
Date04/18/2023
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
John G. Kays
Oral history interviewer
Stephen Fagin
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file)
DimensionsDuration: 78 Minutes
Collections
DescriptionAs an elementary school student in Houston, Kays attended President Kennedy’s historic speech about the U.S. space program at Rice University on September 12, 1962. He later developed a research interest in the Kennedy assassination and was the primary organizer of a private Dallas tour and guidebook, Conspiracy A-Go-Go, in 1988.
Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza by Stephen Fagin. The interview is one hour and eighteen minutes long.
Curatorial CommentaryThe Museum's John Slate Collection (1989.079) includes multiple copies of the Conspiracy A-Go-Go guidebook. Self-published by the so-called "Nerraw Commission" (Warren Commission spelled backwards), the twenty-six page tongue-in-cheek booklet includes an introduction that reads: "In a sense, we, the authors of this guide, feel that JFK has almost endorsed our endeavor to perpetuate the memory of the recent past in Dallas. These structures stand in mute testimony to the lurid misdeeds of the persons involved in the Crime of the Century - the assassinations (and cover-ups of same) of JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Patrolman J.D. Tippit. Also, JFK was funny. So are we." - Stephen Fagin, Curator
In addition to John G. Kays, several individuals involved in the Conspiracy A-Go-Go Dallas tour and guidebook have recorded oral histories with the Museum over the years, including artist Ellen Gibbs, Peggy Norvell Turlington and Dallas city archivist John H. Slate. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
