The Assasination of JFK

Contributed by Victoria Crincoli

 

The Assassination of JFK

 

In 1976, the US Senate ordered a fresh inquiry into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was murdered in 1963 during a motorcade in Dallas, Texas while campaigning for re-election. People who had been involved in the original Warren Commission investigations were asked to make fresh statements. The FBI and the CIA were persuaded to release more of their documents on Oswald. New lines of inquiry were opened and individuals who had not previously given evidence were persuaded to come forward. Most important of all, pieces of evidence such as photos and sound recordings were subjected to scientific analysis using the most up-to-date methods and equipment. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) completed their investigation in 1979 and they finally came to a discrete verdict that Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots at Kennedy, one of which killed the president. A fourth shot was fired from the grassy knoll, which was contradictory to the statement printed by the Warren Commission 16 years earlier. They concluded that John Kennedy

was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy.

For many years the American public had to be content with the Warren Commissions verdict that Lee Harvey Oswald had been the sole assassin in the murder of John F. Kennedy. However, after the report was published on September 24, 1964, fresh evidence continued to surface, as did inconsistencies with the findings of the Warren Commission. There was a general feeling that they had disregarded evidence if it contradicted their conclusion. They had been under immense pressure to reach a verdict and, had no doubt been influenced by public opinion. In fact, three days after the assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson received a memo saying; "The public must be satisfied that Oswald was the assassin, and that he did not have confederates."

 

Interview

Assassination of JFK

Joan Crincoli (My Grandmother)

What do you remember about the days preceding the Presidential motorcade?  Was there any voiced concern in the media that the President was going to be in a convertible?  The Secret Service wanted him in an enclosed car, but the President wanted to have access to the people.

 

Were you watching when the President was shot and where were you at the time?  What do you remember from the event?  I was not watching because I am a teacher.  I was in school.  When we heard that the President was shot we were all dumbfounded.  It was unfathomable.  Everyone was confused and teachers and students were crying. 

 

What was your immediate reaction to the shooting of President Kennedy?  How did your reaction change over the following days and weeks?  I was shocked.  It was like time stopped.  It was a life changing event.  We all thought that we lived in a safe and secure place.  So many people became depressed the weeks afterwards.  It was a very bleak time.  It took a while for me to realize that these things really do happen.  It hadn’t happened in my lifetime.

 

Did you also watch the broadcast on the President’s Funeral?  What was the most memorable event during that funeral do you remember?  Everyone was glued to the TV.  We only had 13 channels but every channel was talking about the President.  We watched the funeral procession and Jackie and her two children walking behind the horse drawn hearse.  Everyone remembers John saluting his father.  He was so little.  We were in such disbelief.  We just watched it over and over.

 

What was the general public opinion of the Vice President that took office?  Were there any statements made by the Vice President regarding President Kennedy that you still remember today?  I didn’t follow politics very much.  The Vice President was sworn in immediately.  Everyone so admired JFK.  It wasn’t until later when the stories about the women came out that he lost some of his shine.  To this day I wonder what the truth is because so many thought there was a second shooter.  They said we wouldn’t find out until 50 years later, but even then the story didn’t change about there being one shooter.

For more information on the assassination of JFK, see:

"Warren Report." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 9. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 33-34. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
 

"The 'Magic Bullet' that Killed JFK?" The Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained. Ed. Brad Steiger and Sherry Hanson Steiger. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 35. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
 

Routledge, Chris. "JFK." International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 4th ed. Vol. 1: Films. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 593-595. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
 

Karabell, Zachary. "Kennedy, John Fitzgerald [1917–1963]." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Ed. Philip Mattar. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 1288-1289. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

The Assassination of President JFK

Contributed by Catherine Coughlan
 

JFK’s Assassination

             John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35^th president of the United States was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963 in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. He was shot while in the car with his wife Jacqueline and the governor of Texas John Connally with his wife Neille. They were riding in the presidential motorcade. They were taking a route that would give the President the most exposure to the Dallas crowds before his departure.  The President was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. The biggest controversy is whether Oswald worked alone or with a group of people.

            Oswald used a 6.5 X 52 mm Italian Carcano M91/38 bolt-action sniper rifle to kill the president. The rifle was purchased the previous March under the name of “A. Hidell.” The President was sniped in the head. He was rushed to the emergency room and the staff at Parkland Hospital’s Trauma Room treated the President. In the hospital, his condition was a “moribund” which means that he had no chance of survival upon arriving at the hospital. Dr. George Burkley signed President Kennedy’s death certificate. 

Interview:
 

The Depressing Day of President JFK's Assassination 

Interview of Joanne Johnson (my aunt)

Where were you born?
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY

Where did you go to elementary school?
Saint Anselm, Brooklyn, NY

Where did you go to high school?
Bishop Carney, Brooklyn, NY

Where did you go to nursing school?
Hunter College Bellevue School of Nursing

How old were you on the day of the assassination?
6 years old

Where were you when the assassination happened? 
In school, but they let us out early. I believe I was in the first grade.

What did you do when they dismissed you from school?
I walked home to the apartment with the other kids who lived on our block. The big kids would walk us younger kids home to make sure we got home safely. I walked home with my friend and my cousin.

What happened when you got home?
I remember when I came home that my mother was crying and she made me sit down with my siblings and watch the tv. It was all over the news. We continued to watch program after program.

How did you hear about the assassination?
The teacher dismissed us from school saying for us to go straight home. We were told that the president was killed.

Did the teachers give any details about the assassination and what had happened?
No they only told us the president was dead.

What were your feelings when you heard the assassination happened?
I was shocked but couldn't really grasp my head around the fact.

Where were your siblings when the assassination happened?

My brothers Eddie and Jimmy and my sister Celie were all home with my mother.  

Where were your parents when the assassination happened?
My father was at work, and did not leave work earlier and was not home when I left school early. He came home at the same time her normally does. My mother was home with the baby.  

What were your parents’ reactions about the death of the president?
My parents were very upset. I remember my aunt coming over, since they lived the apartment right above us, so my aunt came over and her and my mother just cried while watching the TV. My mother just kept saying “what a tragedy”.

Does one emotion or event stand out this day or the days after? 
I remember that everyone was crying and everyone was shocked. It was a sad day. 

Did you go to school the day after the assassination?

I believe so. I don't think we had the day off. I know my father went to work and my mother stayed home the day after the assassination.  

For more information on the JFK Assassination, see:

Kennedy, John F. Television in American Society Reference Library. Ed. Laurie Collier Hillstrom and Allison McNeill. Vol. 3: Primary Sources. Detroit: UXL, 2007. p65-76. Word Count: 2005.

Kennedy, John Fitzgerald. West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Ed. Shirelle Phelps and Jeffrey Lehman. Vol. 6. 2^nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2005. p120-122. Word Count: 1508.

Kennedy Assassination. Thurston Domina. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 3. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. p16-17. Word Count: 902.

Kennedy Assassination. World of Forensic Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale,2005. p399-401. Word Count: 1754

Living through and Escaping from Angolan Sectarian Violence

Contributed by Trevor Miranda

An interview with a veteran of the Angolan colonial forces established by Portugal as tensions and body counts rose on the path towards Angolan Independence, and subsequently a bloody civil war.

A NOTE OF CAUTION: There may be parts of this interview or its addendum that some might find distressing, disgusting, horrifying, or depressing. It was a time of incredible violence and horror for both the native Angolans and the Portuguese citizens that had called Angola their home.

Angola had been a Portuguese colony ruled by Portugal for hundreds of years. The Angolan War for Independence was a building up of various societal tensions as Portugal exerted its regional supremacy more forcefully. Civil disobedience began in the 1940s and 1950s. By 1933, Portugal had signed the "Portuguese Colonial Act," a piece of legislation that reinforced Portuguese supremacy over the native Angolans. This inspired various national groups that petitioned the UN for protectorate status. During the 1950s, there was a wave of immigration to this settlement on the heels of another Portuguese bill that established Angola as a province of Portugal. This, again, raised Angolan nationalist parties like the Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola and the Angolan Communist Party. During the 1960s, the problem was not just denial of nationalism, Angola became a hot bed of societal unrest. A major event was the Baixa de Cassanje revolt, which had Angolan natives revolting against a multi-national corporation by the name of "Cotonang" because of poor working conditions. This, on top of two attacks by Angolan natives on a Portuguese police stations and Portuguese prison in Angola, caused a rash, harsh response by the Portuguese provincial government. The Portuguese enlisted settlers as vigilantes to destroy slums in Angola and slaughter their populations. This obviously caused a problem with Angolan natives and further fueled more nationalism in Angola. The Union of Peoples of Angola began the incursion into Angola on March 15, 1961. Eventually, the fighting ended with the Portuguese granting the Angolan province sovereignty, because they couldn't afford to wage war in Angola with a few other colonial skirmishes happening elsewhere. Then began the Angolan Civil War.

The two main groups at battle during the civil war were the MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) and the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola.) The war was stereotypical of most African politics. These two main nationalist groups absorbed various, smaller nationalist groups that then had it out for control of the political vacuum created by the loss of the provincial power, Portugal. The Communist-supported MPLA party won in the end and is now the current government of Angola.

Very luckily, my grandparents and mother only had to experience a bit of the civil war before they made their escape in 1975.

Below is an interview I conducted with my grandfather, a man who had no family, who was sent to Angola, and then forced to fight for the Angolan provincial forces because of a mandatory service law. I tried not to dive too deeply into anything too specific, because the man still relives the horrors of this time in his life every time it's brought up. There is a point towards the very end of the interview where he gets a bit incoherent. I've left it in and my mother has translated it as best she could. He was getting very emotional and shaky when describing the escape. The interview is subtitled for your convenience with a backdrop of some hopefully less melancholy photographs mostly taken by contracted photographers during his enlistment (as taking photographs by yourself was a serious offence.) Note: To see the subtitles, you must select "Watch on Youtube" and then hit the CC for the caption setting.