Dallas Morning News remembers day Camelot fell

Five decades ago, America was changed in an instant.

During a presidential motorcade parade through downtown Dallas, bullets fired at a black limousine.

Texas Gov. John Connally was hit, as was the man sitting in the seat behind him.

The man threw up his arms to cover his face and throat.

But in the next instant, his wife’s now infamous pink Chanel suit was covered with his blood, skull fragments and brain matter.

Mortally wounded, he was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

At 1 p.m. Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was declared dead.

Camelot was over. The nation would never be the same.

Today, JFK is everywhere in the literary world.

In remembrance of the 50th anniversary of his assassination, library shelves and bookstore display windows are crowded with books on everything you could want to know about John F. Kennedy.

But my favorite amongst the many JFK books is a slim compilation of notes from the Dallas Morning News.

“JFK Assassination: The Reporter’s Notes” contains the real written experiences of journalists, photographers and editors present that fateful day.

Readers can follow these news staffers as they drove in the president’s motorcade, talked with witnesses on the grassy knoll at Dealey Plaza, waited for news at the Parkland Hospital, followed police to the Texas Theatre and detailed Lee Harvey
Oswald’s shooting underneath the police station.

The book includes the original typed statements, handwritten notes and photographs as well as information that hasn’t been seen by the public for decades.

“JFK Assassination: The Reporter’s Notes” is a fresh, behind-the-scenes look at the last day of Jack Kennedy’s life in a whole new light.

This compilation will especially appeal to journalism, political science and history majors.

­— jenfagan@indiana.edu

Follow columnist Jenna Fagan on Twitter @jenna_faganIDS.