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Abel Rodriguez Oral History
Abel Rodriguez Oral History

Abel Rodriguez Oral History

Object number2023.001.0050
Date07/24/2023
ClassificationsOral Histories
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: 69 Minutes
Collections
  • All Online Objects
  • Oral History Collection
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Abel Rodriguez. Rodriguez observed the Kennedy motorcade on Lemmon Avenue. As a teenager in the 1950s, he did odd jobs for Jack Ruby at the Ervay Theater and Silver Spur Club. He recalled seeing Ruby once pull a gun on someone holding a knife. Having experienced prejudice growing up in Dallas, Rodriguez later became a diversity activist. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on July 24, 2023 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is one hour and nine minutes long.
Curatorial Commentary
Jack Ruby moved to Dallas in December 1947 to help his sister, Eva Grant, who owned and operated a nightclub called the Singapore Supper Club at 1717 South Ervay Street, which she had opened in 1945. By early 1949, when Grant decided to return to the west coast, Jack assumed ownership and management of the club. In an effort to improve business, Ruby converted the venue into a country and western dance hall and changed the name to the Silver Spur Club. Business did not improve, and Ruby briefly transferred the club to friends Martin Gimpel and Willie Epstein in 1952 before quickly regaining ownership. For a brief time in 1953, while running the Silver Spur, Ruby also managed the Ervay Theater, a movie theater at 1709 South Ervay Street. Ruby finally sold the Silver Spur to Roscoe "Rocky" Robinson in 1955. The Silver Spur subsequently closed when Robinson could not obtain a city license to operate it. - Stephen Fagin, Curator