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Jason Cohen and John H. Slate Oral History
Jason Cohen and John H. Slate Oral History

Jason Cohen and John H. Slate Oral History

Object number2024.001.0076
Date10/22/2024
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
Oral history interview subject
Oral history interviewer
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file)
DimensionsDuration: 26 Minutes
Collections
  • All Online Objects
  • Pop Culture
  • Oral History Collection
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Jason Cohen and John Slate. Cohen, a counterculture artist and bookstore owner in Dallas, co-created the Kennedy assassination parody board game “Conspiracyland” in 1999. He was interviewed with game co-creator John H. Slate. Born three months after the Kennedy assassination, Slate has served as Dallas City Archivist since 2000. Previously, he co-developed a private Dallas tour called “Conspiracy A-Go-Go” and appeared as an assassination conspiracy theorist in Richard Linklater’s cult film, "Slacker" (1990). Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on October 22, 2024 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is twenty-six minutes long.
Curatorial Commentary

In addition to his oral history interviews in 2016 and 2024, longtime Dallas City Archivist John H. Slate gave a lecture at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on March 7, 2007 about the collections of the Dallas Municipal Archives. That public program was recorded as part of the Museum's Oral History Project.

In addition to the "Conspiracyland" parody board game, Slate also co-created a Kennedy assassination Dallas tour and guidebook called Conspiracy A-Go-Go. The Museum's John Slate Collection (1989.079) includes multiple copies of the guidebook.- Stephen Fagin, Curator

As discussed during this interview, Slate and Cohen co-created an irreverent parody board game based on the Kennedy assassination called "Conspiracyland." Inspired by the Milton Bradley board game "Candyland," their "Conspiracyland" game was released by "Patsy Brothers" (a play on Parker Brothers) and featured a winding road of brightly colored tiles that took players past a variety of Kennedy assassination-related locations decorated with candy and sweets. The box art showed President and Mrs. Kennedy skipping hand in hand across a grassy field, chased by a miniature gingerbread man wielding a rifle with the Texas School Book Depository, its roof covered in frosting, in the background. The game featured whimsical illustrations by Roy Tompkins and Mack White. "Conspiracyland" was an extremely limited edition of only 50 board games, distributed exclusively by Forbidden Books in Dallas in 1999. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza has No. 2 of 50 as part of the Fred Fuston Collection (2014.011.0482). The box includes a game board, character sheet, 24 "Konspiracy Kards," instructions, six-sided die and an advertisement for the game. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
John H. Slate previously recorded an oral history inerview with the Museum in 2016. That recording can be viewed via the Museum's online collections database here: John H. Slate Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. - Riley Harris, Collections Cataloger