Three Shots Fired at President Kennedy’s Motorcade...
With this news flash transmitted over wire by United Press International (UPI) from Dallas on November 22, 1963, Texas and the nation entered a defining moment in American history. This exhibit tells a story of what followed. It provides a look at how the State of Texas responded to this national tragedy through rigorous investigations by the Texas Attorney General and Texas Department of Public Safety.
In 1963 Texas was a key Democratic stronghold. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and Governor John B. Connally had planned President John F. Kennedy’s late November trip to mend political fences between liberal and conservative factions of the Texas Democratic Party and to raise money for the re-election campaign. Those plans ended abruptly and tragically near Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas.
The assassination of President Kennedy and subsequent murder of his accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, resulted in investigations by the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (known unofficially as the Warren Commission), Texas Attorney General Waggoner Carr, the Texas Department of Public Safety, among others.
This exhibit focuses on materials that state criminal investigative agencies and courts gathered and created, now part of the Texas State Archives. Among these is the suit of clothing worn by Texas Governor Connally while riding in the motorcade with President Kennedy.