We just had the 60th Anniversary of the JFK Assassination. Happy Thanksgiving, too!
72) BTW - The picture of JFK is 'Rated-PG', footage of that day prior to the tragic event.
Prelude: Before JFK became the most famous President ever assassinated, if you go further back 158 years, you had Abraham Lincoln famously assassinated. (Lincoln, JFK coincidences). So before I get up to one of the most popular conspiracy theories American history has ever known, allow me to start off with talking about Lincoln’s assassination.
<Also, before you read-on, check out this live (RATED PG) black and white footage of the infamous day 60 years ago; on November 22nd, 1963 in Dallas, Texas>
In the 8th grade US History class I teach, we are in the midst of the Reconstruction Era, which still has quite a bit of overlap with the Civil War Era. As a fun Friday (really Wednesday before break) assignment, I did a lesson on the Abraham Lincoln assassination.
To my pleasant surprise, 90% of the students in this particular class were supper into it. While there isn’t an over-abundance of literature or movies/documentaries on Lincoln’s assassination, in comparison to Kennedy’s, there is still plenty to fill a library (just not over 100 libraries like Kennedy’s).
“John F. Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963. Almost 30 years later, Congress enacted the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. The Act mandated that all assassination-related material be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The resulting Collection consists of more than 5 million pages of assassination-related records, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings and artifacts (approximately 2,000 cubic feet of records). Most of the records are open for research.” https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk
When discussing with my students their fascination with Lincoln’s assassination, part of it has to do with the fact that Abraham Lincoln is one of the few Presidents they actually learn about in elementary school. Yet, it’s unlikely they had a whole lesson devoted to his being murdered. The lesson itself goes through not only the mystery and motive behind his killing, but also who conspired against the President.
The main antagonist of course is John Wilkes Booth, an actor who President Lincoln was actually a fan of. Here’s a video that just focuses on Booth’s intent and the ensuing hours after Lincoln was shot.
For 8th grade students, not all of them have developed a keen interest in history. Many of them will later on in life, while some might not ever. As a teacher, other obstacles I frequently face are time constraints. While I like (just about) all teachers have a lesson plan to stick to (which is almost like a script with pacing and timing), I like to give room to deviate from it at times.
Depending on circumstances, (like where a particular class is on the pacing chart), I need to speed up or slow down. This particular class had the benefit of it being a double period, where they were caught up in their work, and we were able to take our time going through the Lincoln assassination lesson.
Naturally, there was curiosity about the other most famous President who was assassinated, John F. Kennedy.
The fact that so many of my students were so curious by that moment in history, was certainly exciting for me. A few students seemed to have a bit of background knowledge on the incident, sharing how they believe there were two shooters on that fateful day.
In an interesting twist at the time, I didn’t realize as we were discussing JFK’s murder, it was the 60th anniversary (yesterday!). I later told the class this. I’m not fully sure how impressed many of them were, as they were in the middle of their English class.
While I didn’t discuss this movie with my students (given that it’s Rated R), what I will say is that the best cinematic movie (and/or documentary) I have ever seen on the Kennedy assassination was Oliver Stone’s epic political thriller, JFK (1991).
Much like the moon-landing being debated, UFO sightings, and now the whole debate on the morality and practicality of the use of AI, Americans can’t get enough of the JFK assassination. I suppose a somewhat distant second (in the world of politics) is the Watergate Scandal.
It does make me wonder why there isn’t more attention brought forth on the January 6, 2021 Capitol Insurrection. Is it deliberately being downplayed? Is Biden’s advanced age really a bigger controversy? I’m not entirely sure.
And, despite our current bleak international world, there is still much I am thankful for. I’m thankful for many things in my life this Thanksgiving - from my beautiful kids to my father, to my choice in career, my ability to write and share my thoughts with all of you. I could go on, but I will leave at that.
Peace & Love, everybody.
-JPJ
“The Web of Conspiracy”, by Theodore Roscoe is one of the best Lincoln assassination books you’ll find. My copy is well worn.
Like many things, the things not told are where it’s at.
Interesting perspective in terms of education.
I'm curious about all this supposed new information that's going to 'soon be shared.'
Agree about the Stone film.