finish that up as well. >> [applause] take you very much for being here today. but there are far too many people i did not catch everyone's name but i do

want 2.0 jim lapel that was handcuffed to the harvey oswald is your. [applause] you might want to save your applause because i have a lot. and seated very close to him is the dallas jeopardy cherbourg's on the sixth floor that day also phyllis paul anderson from the hospital who was in trevor remember one when kennedy died also the time-life bureau and he said at the time of the assassination and we also have judean read to wes the press aide at the time of the assassination and one of the first reporters inside this building at all after the assassination and also our

narrator for the audio version and can be heard through the exhibit today. over here i do want to go to this very quickly we do have eye witnesses. a reinvest photographer at the plaza and then the closest civilian eyewitnesses to president kennedy at the time of the shooting is james here today? i am not sure. that is okay. we hope all is well with jim and the tenth juror selected for the jack retrial is dr. williams year? -- hear? he also have museum founders with a story in the assassination. our wonderful documentarians

that you can see the film on the sixth floor to this day. they created such a wonderful display that continues to fascinate us 25 years after the museum in here to give research for the exhibit a member of our board members past and present are here. we're so happy to have them here today. but to celebrate the museum's history and how the dream became a reality. but as an introduction today i want to go back in time to provide context. what happened between

november 22nd, 1963, when we were involved with the project in the '70s. we have to start with the day of the assassination. we would not be here today. we could not speak in this historic setting without these two women. we owe them a great debt of thanks. we're honored to have them with us today prefer want to begin with the assassination of kennedy that had a profound impact on people around the world but this was a devastating tragedy that left wounds that were not easily deal. but mourners sang curiosity seekers but at the center of this experience was the school depository building.

there was the immediate public outcry that it described as an eyesore and they remind -- a reminder of the attack and it had international criticism. in the months and years they beat up to president kennedy of vocal minority but then as the city of pate ashamed they tried to distance themselves from the city's darkest moment. said new marker was unveiled in 1966 or the jfk memorial.

that visitors around the world estimated 1 billion annually gathered to remember president kennedy to experience history through their own eyes. initially there was an effort to someone from texas to purchase the building but found no support in the senate but then a national music promoter publish the building at public option hoping to open it as a museum but he could not secure financial backing so he lost in 1972 progress this point the public outcry to demolish the building gained momentum. advocating to tear down but business executives called at dallas on word pledge of rwanda to thousand dollars to purchase the building and demolish it.

after the city council closed the demolition permits dallas county public works director arranged by purchase as part of the 1977 bond package. after several years of renovation it was renamed it dallas county administration building housing the commissioners court and the civil division of the dallas district attorney's office with reopening 1981 it received a historical marker public the acknowledging for the first time its place in history. the question remains what do we do? and that is where the story begins today. your chair when the county bought the building. and your thought there was an exhibition?

>> i will go further back than that. >> okay. it is your program. [laughter] has the historical commission chairman so i was down here a lot. so i gave the bus tours to the doctors and i remember going down elm street to turn the corner i remember the core house in to that is all they wanted to see in dallas.

because i wanted to put it out of my mind. but to be here to see the visitation with all kinds of weather. to look up at the window a and walk around something needed to be done for you or the hero of the day we are so appreciative for what you did on this book and all of our ups and downs. >> thank you. >> my first hero was the facilities director of dallas county. but to talk about acquiring

the building. that those that through the effort to the virtu, the commissioners told the city to hire the actual team i know if any of you remember that. it is one of dallas's first major preservation projects. so those who are very knowledgeable so it gave me

a total sense of comfort but i was called to a meeting and went into the office. he was such a gallant and wonderful man. so the three best -- of us through this terrible dusty building with a freight elevator but italy went to the two floors so then we go

into the empty space across the floor it was a profound experience. one that you would never forget. i looked out the window and i thought this is so close. i think i could do something from here. that is a misnomer by the general public that it is a great open space. but it is not. said what we have ahead of us without important this was i signed on to do anything that i could to help to build something on the sixth floor that it will be part history and for what

happened on that terrible day. that is where i stand. [laughter] >> one of the first things you really did is to see what visitor interest there was. you did a visitor survey tell us about that. >> but they gave the historical commission had $500 grant to bring in a visiting specialist. the low a&p holds little did i know in what kind of statistics to have? he said what? said there was nothing about visitor interest at dealey plaza with the county acquiring the building so the idea to give away 10,000

square feet of valuable downtown real-estate is something the taxpayers might ask questions very strong arguments could be made so i called the convention and visitors bureau. they said were just a few

people? we did a survey to come up with 100 percent said under the right circumstances an educational exhibit for the public about the event in the school book depository. if the state did not pay for it they did not want to pay but if private people did it they would pay a fee but that was the basis on which we went forward through the commissioners court we said there was interest and applied for a grant from the endowment from the key vanities, the only one that we got to give the city $600 to bring in a panel to begin

renovations to the building and to the exterior of the building was still present. and george may he right -- recipes he died in j. draper go in very highly respected who we dubbed him as moses. [laughter] >> when he spoke we all listened but he did not say much. [laughter] and to take pictures of us the whole time that we meet and they did for the next 10 years. [laughter] but then he came back and said this is what you need to do.

everything was recorded if not all of the preserved and critical elements that at some future date. >> remember the discussion but it was such the identifying mark but then what happened but they went upstairs on the roof to walk around and there were great? in the building. so something needed to be done. so we saved the panel's. >> on the third floor of this building they had the

in structural trust if they did want to put the sign back up. it would support though wind load like a giant sale pulling the top tier for stories of the building off. no wonder it did not end up in oklahoma. [laughter] but a lot of things went into that. >> let's talk specifically about the sixth floor in the '80s you have the exhibit designers come on board but to talk about how you create an exhibit meredith is geographically in the 1901 warehouse space with the visitors up to the southeast corner at the right moment of the story? >> we relied on them to make that work.

>> but to be in balance with a major exhibit but they said these are the finest exhibits. favor very kind and generous from one afternoon. and immediately you could see the wheels turning this needs to be preserved. this could be done in certain ways. >> excuse me for interrupting. that was a key element but to be on board. >> they would talk me into a [laughter]

but they determined it might as well be done. what else? [laughter] >> in the summer of 83 as a model you went into the dallas community to speak to community leaders to convince the establishment that this exhibit need to happen and it served a purpose. tell the story of the hachette. [laughter] >> i will say this. with rome projector and slides we depended to have a blank wall to project the different businessmen and we went to see him who was very kind and gracious but there

wasn't a blank wall in the whole place. behind him was this tapestry so he reached around behind it and put a bunch of parchment with his caricature on one side and turn it around and he himself would thumbtack on the wall so we could begin our presentation. but that was interesting. we went to see eric johnson. i will never forget because everyone and we lives where they were. i don't care, you remember where you were and what was happening when his death occurred. then eric johnson was called

to go to the kennedy funeral and represent dallas you cannot imagine anything harder than that. and then he came back to dallas and is a the call to be the mare. >> that was that hatchet remember? [laughter] >> i tend to forget things i don't like. [laughter] >> i did not forget that. [laughter] >> i am praying that director of the historical society was the first president ever had in 60 years in johnson was on the board and publishers of both papers so i knew these men

so those whom he adored said he called her in so i tell the story. then his assistant he is about 6-foot 4 inches in not saying a word and will say

it has to be done. go ahead. [laughter] it was that kind of an adventure. [laughter] >> in the early '80s the exhibit aryan into delays, obstacles, i will give you a couple. initially the national park service did not consider this to be a historic site worth preserving the initial fund-raising efforts were successful in the attempted assassination on reagan brought back up and he puts the gun here and he stayed here a couple years than during the 1984 republican national convention the building almost burned down. he was accustomed to answering his phone in the middle of the night.

and said it should he is still asleep and then said it is for you. [laughter] i forget which paper but they called to say mrs. adams there has been a fire in the school book depository this could been at the end of the national convention with everyone still here in town. so what else could happen? they had it under control that it was arson in the basement with a lot of things to a lot of things

that were donated to it. >> a number of these obstacles got your way that anything else to be a shrine to lee harvey oswald to had to battle these feelings the animosity of anything historic of this building. let's take a quick look at a video clip. we want to think our friends for providing this to us and allowing us to show it to debut look at a clip late 86 you will hear about the ongoing efforts of the projects. >> a dozen plants to build with the kennedy assassination to be set up on the sixth floor of the depository building in dallas.

tonight we have new efforts to raise money for that exhibit. >> thousands of tourists visit the site of the kennedy assassination every year but for many, looking around outside it is not enough. >> alan like to go in in and see what happened. >> which she and other visitors want to see is the sixth floor of the old school book depository where lee harvey oswald is said to fire the fatal shot. but this is now the county administration building remains closed to the public but the historical exhibit was scheduled to open this year remains several years away. >> we have gone to the public to ask for funds for almost two years to match genealogist the tight economy pushed the kennedy display lower on the list of major contributors but she said the study completed last week suggest a new fund-raising program to have a collection of photos and

documents and film clips would cost $3 million. >> with the events surrounding the assassination of jfk. >> to help raise the money the sixth minute promotional tape will be circulated to business leaders and the public. by early next year the foundation hopes to kickoff the three year fund-raising campaign. >> it is tragic but it did occur here and we feel it needs to be handled in the best possible way. >> visitors comments show a continuing interest in the sixth floor exhibit and they hope the public will respond with many. but able not be a memorial but a chronicle of the events of november 22, november 22, 1963, but some say it is still too soon. >> late 1986 been everything

changes jittery 1987 with a new dallas county judge who'd to your surprise pledged hit his support at inauguration to become a reality than it took off. >> with all of the years but together. [laughter] before that almost one day before we had a visitor from the national park service from santa fe. he was here for the cotton bowl game. we told him about the plan that had been developed through the years. he said this more than meets the standards of the park service and he was very interested to hear what he could to help. so that was exciting to have

him whom i'm had never met to make this announcement when he became county judge again, was critical. this started the final push to have that important backing to back within the charge. maybe it would not have been finished ever with the dedication of all consultants who worked on its. . .

>> then the county, of course, involved in the construction they were building, we ordered bricks compatible with the sort of american brick color of the de-- depository building, and what arrived to build this tower in was horrible, and so we called the owner of the company, and he flew in, and we stood and looked out the back of the sixth floor where the tower was going to be, and he said, that color it perfect. [laughter] judge fox, who was fabulous, of course, was standing next to me, and i turnedded around to this guy, and i said, let me make sure that i get your name and

your telephone number. he said, well, why? i said, when the "new york times" called and asked why dallas built an elevator tower that looked for all intensive purposes like a dreamsicle, i want to make sure i can give them your contact information, and, actually, it's the only time i saw dave fox's mouth fall open, and he looked at me afterwards, and he said, that ought to do it. [laughter] there were delays. we had more ice storms, and it was, you know, the -- it was just amazing that it all came together in the nick of time. >> the key sniper's nest, southeast corner of the tower was reconstructed and the dallas crime scene photograph, and when you pulled up the floor, tell us

how the site was prepared for exhibition. >> oh, they were laying a new floor when the assassination took place, the plywood planks, had not got to the corner windows so the plings were finished after the event and had to come up for the, you know, reconstruction of the sniper's perch. we go in, pull up the plank, and we were terrified the flooring would be rotted out, but that was the problem. the problem was that the head of the civil section of the da had the office immediately beneath the sniper's perch on the 5th floor, and when they ripped up the planks, all this pigeon stuff, and dead spiders, said we're preserving the dirt, but it ended up in his office, and e went down, and somebody came up and said, we got a problem.

i went down, and he was in the office, and the man was totally bald, never had a hair on his head, and i looked, and in the frame of the picture of his wife and kids, there was doo, and, you know, stuff all over the sofa and i said, this is just terribly embarrassing, and he said, just tell me that it's over. [laughter] i said, it's up. it's done. we'll send somebody down to clean it up. [laughter] >> let's talk about about the same time because the visitor's center was built in the back, and the stage was built in the historic area. well, they kept it, and i think you said the worst thing to find

is the handmade swell. guess what appeared? >> two of them. >> one of the county administrators you suppose it's a felony if we poured in concrete and filled it in? [laughter] it went on and on and on and conover kept saying, now, if we find bones like willie's bones, that means that we have to completely do a new dig. to provide evidence, lee jackson's friend, a group of judges got together for an april fool's joke. conover went to the dallas museum of natural history and barrowed bones. [laughter] it was tagged and shalacked, but

it was impressive bringing in, you know, all these -- just never thrilled with the project, but he had a part to barrel in and television reporters, which he did beautifully, came in, and he said, judge, i just found out they found bones, and you know what that mean, another $75,000 for the dig, and these news men, may we see you talk to you judge -- i'm afraid i must ask you to leave my office. [laughter] of course, my part was to hold the bones, and, you know, do like this, he was used to seeing me rub hands over one thing or another, and so it worked, and so then jim jackson said, lee, come over here to the window and

all the attorney friends were saying, april fool's. [laughter] we were always afraid there might be repercussions. judge jackson led this commissioner's court in such a wonderful way. he was our champion, and kept it from any controversy. >> lets talk for a minute about the exhibit content because you had a limited space to tell a very important story, the life, death, and legacy in the context of 1960s american history. how do you work with with historians, amateur researchers, conspiracy theorists, 27 people shaping the content. how did it come together? >> well, preliminary designs were worked out, and what was missing until we came back to life in 87 was the documentary

filmmakers when the mondells came in to complete the team. >> on the first floor right here. >> first row. at any rate, the -- there's nothing about the content that you couldn't question, and so we had a large number of experts from the cia, you name it, ended up being 20-some who worked on arriving at what was a consensus of what the facts were. if you go into the war on commission exhibits, they give you, and gary corrects me, always does, three times that the officer was shot, and there's a lot of apparently contradictory information. we had official investigations, and then we had at overviews,

and just a tremendous amount of information went into it. we also wanted to -- there's hundreds of pages of texts on the wall, that's about 50 pages too much. there's the content of the film, what's on the wall, and the labels issue and it was very much -- we were all very aware of the fact that you have what we say in the museum field, readers and runners. some people go through an exhibit, and they run. some people go through an exhibit, read, and find every typo in the whole thing. it was all very carefully balanced out, but we had a wonderful dinner party with the main -- the current -- that generation of conspiracy theorists, and the head of the house select committee on the assassination, and mary ferrell was there, a respected researcher, and it was just this

incredible dinner party. i do not recommend anyone have such a dinner party. [laughter] they -- we survived it. just tremendous amounts of beverages were consumed. [laughter] nobody ate anything at all as far as i can tell, but we worked out, they understood that we were doing history, that we needed to find an approach, that you couldn't do an exhibit on their theory against another theory, that we had a responsibility to say how tax dollars were spent in history, and it all worked out. i don't think too many people know that the editor of the tax was judge jackson, who ended up being a terrific editor, and we had -- i mean, everyone was involved. there was a lot of coordination. actually, everyone came together and cooperated.

largely. we had retired cia, staff director who came in to work with staples and charles. they called me at 7:30 on a saturday. this guy has applied for a job, what do you think? i said, look, let him in, better that they're up front, you know, keep them close, but, and everyone was very helpful, but it -- everyone finally got the idea that we were doing something that was more important than any of the individuals involved. we were doing it for the public, and the public was people from all over the world who were either ignorant about an event, confused about an event, and we had the site, and it was dallas' karma that they had to deal with it, and that's basically what happens. >> opening day arrives, february 20th, 1989, and the 6th floor is under the media microscope, and

mostly praise, a few detractors, but mostly praise. i remember the front page of the dlation time heradl read simply "today we stand whole again with the, and you were there that day, a ceremony in the commissioner's court, and 17 people filed in. tell us about opening day. >> people kept asking for my autograph, and i hardly could sign, you know, but it was -- we thanked each other. i thanked conover because of his truth. this would not have been done if not for conover and her ability and drive, and -- >> and i thanked her. >> and she thanked me, and we hugged, and we had the president of the national trust -- no, wait a minute -- >> yeah, national trust. >> jackson walter. >> walter, yeah. >> who spoke, and was very compliment ri.

i remember he likened me to a name that didn't mean -- ann pamela cunningham, and i thought, oh, my godness, what a compliment. she saved mount vernon in 1854. >> may i interrupt this time? >> yes. >> he said that you are a pink powder puff. [laughter] >> that was another president. [laughter] >> well, running short of time. you have a question card. you should have gotten those coming in today. if you have a question for any of us today, please, fill them out, pass to the end of the row, and we'll collect those to get through as many questions as we can. let's fast forward from opening day, fast forward 25 years to the upcoming 25th anniversary of february of next year. this institution began life as an exhibit. some would say it was a temporary exhibit because its

longevity at that point was not assured. >> uh-huh. >> where are we now? how do the two of you see this museum and its contribution to understanding dallas and the kennedy assassination? >> well, i think we both felt that it was going to last because we realized what had been compiled here, but we were very careful not to call it a museum. i mean, dallas still, you know, there's repercussions and feelings of sensitivity about this site, even today, and so in order to move ahead and to plan an exhibit, that was what we called it the first three years, and then later, i think, jeff west was the director, and actually worked with what national museum of --

>> aam. >> american association of museums. >> uh-huh. it is now a verified museum, but we felt it would last. i think i did. i know you did too. >> oh, yes. i -- a lot of the obstacles that we faced, you were talking about convincing a town that's been totally traumatized to invest in something they can't see with their -- once we got it open, it was largely fine, but getting it open was, you know, you asked them to trust in an unknown when there have been very, very many -- much damage has been done, not just to the community, but to individuals who were yelled out when they went to other cities and so on and so forth, and so anything that could trigger a fearful reaction, if you said "museum," they immediately started talking

about you're going to have, you know, the rifle, you're going to have all these unsaver ri things, and we just moved away from that. the board was very, very good in getting the right tone. i looked at it as my job to get it open. knowing and praying it would be successful because barbara charles asked me before, well, who is going to cover the opening? i said the media. it'll be a breaking news story. she said, well, what if they don't like it? i said, welsh barbara, that's easy, none of us will ever work anywhere again. [laughter] >> left out the board. >> the board was fabulous. >> and something happened one day when we were in the midst of this. the lady by the name of nancy

cheney was working on the alzheimer's gala, and she wanted me to be the co-chairman, came to the house, and we were visiting. she casually said, you know, we are friends of the kennedy family that they do invite us to all of their events and parties, and i said, senator ted kennedy? she said, yes, my daughter worked for him, and alison is here on the front row as well as nancy cheney, and so i told her the scope of what we were trying to do, and i said, nancy, would you mind taking this information to senator kennedy, and she agreed to do that. just think of that. just think of that. we had never been in contact

with any of the kennedy family, too painful, something, you know, we wouldn't know that we knew that they wouldn't want to hear, but nap sigh took our materials, and i love for you to be able to tell us, but what happened is that ted kennedy did read them. he said, nancy, i know if you're involved, it's going to be all right, and from that point on, his assistant, melody miller, kept in touch with us and actually came down to dallas to meet all of us, and so we had that open conduit, you know, to the kennedy family. nancy, stand up. we want to thank you. [applause]

>> well, and after she visited with ted kennedy, he asked her to go to new york and visit with steve -- >> smith. >> yeah, smith, steve smith, who was then in contact -- >> [inaudible] >> right, with the family, so -- >> i want to go through a few questions from the audience today. this one is addressed to all three of us. where were you when president kennedy was shot? now, i have to say, i have to disqualify myself from this. i was not alive when president kennedy was shot, but whoever wrote this wants to have a word with you after the program. [laughter] the two of you certainly remember where you were on november 22, 1963. if you could, briefly tell us where you were and how you found out about the assassination. >> go ahead. >> okay. i was just home, and i was having a meeting at my house of

doctors' wife, and all the sudden ribbon appeared, and his office overlooked this emergency room, and he couldn't get through to tell us what happened because all the lines were tied up, and so he came in and he said, turn on the television. we did. we stood around and watched and he said, president kennedy was shot in the head, and i just thought, oh, you know, felt is there any way he would survive? so that is how i found out about it. >> i was leaving my last class on a friday in hampton high school, and i was involved in the local newspaper for the school, and i was a featured editor in the news editor ran around with a transistor radio, and we were walking down this long hallway, and the radio

says, kennedy has been shot, and i realized later that what he had heard was the first radio announcement, and he yelled it down the hall, and that was it. there's part of the peak memory, everybody, you know, remembers what they were doing, but if you look at your memory in more depth, you'll find that the edges of it are very gray. yeah. >> oh, well, you know, here in dallas, it touched so many lives in so many ways because all the emergency trauma teams were good friends of ours, and, also, went back sunday to make rounds, and he was on the eel elevator goinp to the surgical suite by himself, and they pushed a gurny on with him, and it was a comatosed man, he said, and it turned out to be oswald. well, the team who worked to save president kennedy's life turned out also to be on-call

for when oswald came in, and my -- our next door neighbor, when i was growing up, was the surgeon who saved conly's life. we had an extended member of the family who was an fbi agent here, and he was one of the ones who interrogated oswald, and e wnever, everhg about it until right before he died, and he -- it was just three or four words in his opinion. of course, you know, that story is not allowed, but he basically said, and i quote you, he was such a distinguishedded man, he said, "he was a little punk, and he did it." i thought, wow. >> stories you shared today are

important at the museum. you started the prompt way back in the early years of the museums, and conover, you helped to start it back in the early years, and we have almost 1100 oral history us now recorded, and as we approach the anniversary, if you have stories that you'd like to share with us, contact us at the website at jfk.org, and i want to ask all the people in the audience, if you have done an oral history, part of the project in the museum, stand for me so we can recognize you. there's quite a few of you in the audience today. [applause] that's wonderful. i hope that even more of you are becoming part of the archive of living history building at the museum. this is directed to both of you. do you have any regrets, or is there anything you wish you had done differently in the creation of this museum?

>> just thank goodness it's done. >> it was not the kind of thing you could second guess. you either survived, or you didn't. [laughter] i was gratified to see it was well-received. hindsight, he needed it open, we knew it would be good content because we had excellent people involved, and it was a matter of getting it open to the public so that the fears would be laid to rest. that was kind of it. >> connor, the question is for you. how do you feel about the museum today in 2013? >> i think that it has become a real museum, and a museum professional of great talent, and it's doing all of the things

that are truly important nationally respected museum. the education programs, the outreach, the distance learning, the oral history program, the publications, your book, and the, you know, gary mac is doing fabulous job as a curator in advising others. i went to see the fort worth art show at the art museum with, you know, allen and cynthia yesterday, and the film in there was done, and the accurate quality, and it was the best collection of materials relating to a global tragedy that exists on the face of the earth, and now it's doing the right things with the material, and i think that -- i think that dallas should be proud of the professionals who came through

in the last 20-some years turning it into a nationally republicked national institution. >> i'd like for everybody to work in any way on the sixth floor museum to stand and let us recognize you. >> come on, up you go. >> look at this. [applause] >> well, that about does it today. we'll move over to the table to sign books for you, and with all of these other wonderful founders here today, i'm sure all of them would be happy to add their signatures to the book as well, and create your very own sixth floor museum yearbook. this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. thank you so much for being here today and being part of the special conversation about our history. thank you. [applause] for more information about the sixth floor museum, visit

jfk.org.

>> headaching a transition from journalism to blacks is -- to books is exhilarating, overwhelming, and frightful. >> why did you make the choice?

>> i long wanted to work on a book because of the freedom it allows you to really dive into a topic and lose yourself and go off on tan gents and have enough time to really explore it fully. >> sunday, taboo sciences, living in space, the after life, and the human digestive system. we'll take calls, e-mails, facebook comments, and tweets. in-depth, three hours live, sunday, noon eastern on booktv on c-span2. >> this is booktv on c-span2, at book expo america, publishers' annual trade show in new york city, and we're previewing some books coming out in the fall. joining us now is well-known and best selling author, harlow unger, wrote over 20 books, biographies on monroe, mchenry, and the lathest book called