Joan Jackson Oral History

Even though Joan Jackson expressed doubts in this oral history that she still had the distinctive headscarf that she was wearing on November 22, 1963, just a few hours later, daughter Sherry Biehn contacted me to say that the headscarf had been found! The family graciously donated the headscarf to the Museum a few weeks later. The Museum's Joan Jackson Collection (2026.012) includes both the headscarf and the black and white photo taken by her friend, Jean Wortham, on Turtle Creek Boulevard.

 Due to the excitement surrounding the discovery of Joan Jackson as the famous motorcade spectator in The Last Two Days, as well as the donation of her headscarf, the Museum quickly prepared this oral history for our YouTube channel: Oral History with JFK motorcade eyewitness Joan Jackson. The video achieved an astounding 12,000 views in the first 48 hours. - Stephen Fagin, Curator   

The Museum's Oral History Collection includes several interviews with individuals who, like Joan Jackson, saw the Kennedy motorcade on Turtle Creek Blvd. A selection of these recordings along with films and photographs from Turtle Creek can be viewed on the Museum's online Collections database: Results – Advanced Search Objects – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

As mentioned during this interview, Joan Jackson very briefly appears at the 12:01 mark in a color film compiled from 16mm footage largely shot by White House Cinematographer Thomas Atkins during President Kennedy's two-day visit to Texas in November 1963. The Last Two Days may be watched on the website of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston: The Last Two Days, November 1963: 21-22 | JFK Library. - Riley Harris, Collections Cataloger