Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza facts for kids
| Established | February 20, 1989 |
|---|---|
| Location | Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas, U.S. (411 Elm Street Dallas, TX 75202) |
| Type | Historic |
| Visitors | 400,000 |
| Public transit access | DART 11,12,19,21,35,60,63,81/82,161,164, 283 |
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is a special museum in downtown Dallas, Texas. It is located on the sixth floor of the Dallas County Administration Building. This building was once known as the Texas School Book Depository.
The museum overlooks Dealey Plaza, a historic spot. It teaches visitors about the life and time of John F. Kennedy, who was a President of the United States. It also explores the sad event of his death and his lasting impact. The museum also shares information about Lee Harvey Oswald and the different ideas people have about what happened.
Contents
About the Building
The building where the museum is located has seven floors. It is often called the Texas School Book Depository building. It was first built in 1901. Its foundation came from an older five-story building that burned down.
From 1901 to 1963, the building was used for different things. First, it stored farm tools. Later, it became a place for a grocery wholesaler. In 1963, a company called Texas School Book Depository leased the building. They used it to store and send out school textbooks.
Museum Story
How the Museum Started
After the sad event in 1963, the building was still used by the company until 1970. Then, the county of Dallas bought the building. They worked hard to fix it up. By 1981, the outside of the building looked just like it did in 1901. The first five floors were used for government offices. The top two floors, including the famous sixth floor, stayed empty for a while.
After many years of planning, the museum finally opened its doors. This happened on February 20, 1989, which is Presidents' Day. The Sixth Floor Exhibit was created because many people visited Dealey Plaza. They wanted to learn more about the historical event. The Dallas County Historical Foundation started the museum.
The main exhibit at the museum is called John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation. It helps people understand what happened on November 22, 1963. It also shows what happened after that day. The exhibit uses old films, photos, and items from that time. It also has displays that explain the events. It covers the investigations that followed and the lasting importance of the tragedy. The museum pays for itself through donations and ticket sales. It rents its space from Dallas County.
What the Museum Collects
Over the years, the museum has shown many exhibits. It also has a collection of about 2,500 recorded interviews. These interviews are called oral histories. The museum also hosts speakers, including authors and important people. They talk about JFK, Oswald, and the historical meaning of the president's visit.
The museum's collections have more than 90,000 items. These items are about President Kennedy's death and what happened afterward. They also cover the impact of Kennedy's time as president. And they show what life was like in the 1960s.
In December 1999, the Zapruder family gave the museum the rights to the Zapruder film. This film is very important. They also gave one of the first copies of the film made on November 22, 1963. The museum now owns all the rights to this film. The original film is kept safe by the National Archives and Records Administration.
In 2002, the family of Orville Nix also gave the museum the rights to his film. He filmed the last few seconds of the event. The Dallas County Historical Foundation, which runs the museum, now owns these rights.
In February 2007, a film that had never been seen before was shown. It was an 8 mm film of Kennedy's motorcade. George Jefferies and his son-in-law gave it to the museum. The 40-second film was silent and in color. It showed the motorcade before the event. It also showed parts of Dealey Plaza the next day. The Jefferies film showed a smiling Jacqueline Kennedy. It also showed Kennedy's suit jacket bunched up. This was about two minutes before he reached Dealey Plaza.
Museum Activities
The museum has a webcam that shows a live view from the sixth floor. This is the area where the shots were fired.
In November 2023, for the 60th anniversary of the event, the museum held special speaker programs. They also put up "JFK Was Here" banners. These banners highlighted important places along the 1963 motorcade route. This was from Love Field to Dealey Plaza. People had different feelings about these reminders of the event.
The Sixth Floor Museum does not tell people to believe or not believe in different ideas about the event. A poll from Gallup in 2023 showed that 65% of adults in the U.S. believe Oswald did not act alone. This was up four percent from 2013.
Museum Curators
The first curator of the Sixth Floor Museum was Gary Mack. He worked there from 2000 to 2015. Mack was very interested in what happened in Dealey Plaza. He started by looking into different ideas about the event. He later became the museum's main historian and archivist. Mack passed away in 2015 at age 68 from a serious illness.
Stephen Fagin is the current curator of the Sixth Floor Museum. He manages the museum's ongoing Oral History Project. He also helps with collections, exhibits, and public programs. He wrote a book called Assassination and Commemoration: JFK, Dallas, and The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. This book was published in 2013. It talks about the hard work of people who wanted to create a museum. They wanted to remember a president and the sad events of November 22, 1963. Fagin's book explains the careful work needed to get support from important people. It also shows how they convinced boards and committees that preserving and explaining this history was important.
See also
In Spanish: Museo del Sexto Piso en la Plaza Dealey para niños
