Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The 1960s
Michigan Standards Addressed:
8.2.4 Domestic Confl icts and Tensions Using core democratic values, analyze and evaluate the
competing perspectives and controversies among Americans generated by U.S. Supreme Court
decisions (e.g., Roe v Wade, Gideon, Miranda, Tinker, Hazelwood), the Vietnam War (anti-war
and counter-cultural movements), environmental movement, womens rights movement, and the
constitutional crisis generated by the Watergate scandal. (National Geography Standard 16, p. 216)
Lesson Objectives:
Students will be able to deconstruct JFKs assassination and be able to critique the theories
behind his death by examining and evaluating evidence from the assassination
Materials:
Who Shot JFK? introduction video
Images 1-10 (see below)
Zapruder Film Frame Slowed Down (Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=JbXI0WSlTGw) - Edited and on HD
JFK Assassination Magic Bullet Computer Recreation (Video, https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=PfSXkfV_mhA#t=257.255761564)
Evidence Packets for Exhibits A-D
Evidence Packets containing additional evidence for each of the theories
Plan of Instruction:
1. Students watch a video introducing the lesson
2. Our mission:
Use evidence to determine the plausibility (aka truth value) behind some of the various
theories surrounding JFKs assassination.
Political cartoon from 2013 showing a few of the conspiracy theories. Ask students
the following questions:
What is the purpose of this cartoon? What is it trying to communicate to the
reader?
Some of the theories around JFKs death are ridiculous
Theories are more rumor and speculation than actually backed up by
evidence
We should be speculative when considering conspiracy theories
3. *When investigating an event such as this, investigators often construct a chronology of
events surrounding the JFK assassination, as this helps to provide context to the evidence
that is collected; students will be able to access a more detailed timeline while examining
theories at http://www.jfk.org/the-assassination/jfk-assassination-timeline/
(1) The Kennedys arrive Love Field on Air Force One and are greeted by a crowd of people
- 11:46 am (Show Image 6)
Part of Kennedy's early efforts for his 1964 Democratic reelection campaign, as the
1960 Kennedy-Johnson ticket narrowly won Texas, LBJ's home state.
(2) The Kennedys join Texas Governor John Connally and leave Love Field with the
Presidential motorcade for a scheduled luncheon at the Dallas Trade Mart - 11:52 am
(Show Image 7)
Shells collected near the 6th floor window. The shell farthest from the window has a slight dent
near the opening where the round would have been.
Shortly before 1 p.m. Capt. J. Will Fritz, chief of the homicide and robbery bureau
of the Dallas Police Department, arrived to take charge of the investigation. Searching
the sixth floor, Deputy Sheriff Luke Mooney noticed a pile of cartons in the southeast
corner. He squeezed through the boxes and realized immediately that he had
discovered the point from which the shots had been fired. On the floor were three empty
cartridge cases. A carton had apparently been placed on the floor at the side of the
window so that a person sitting on the carton could look down Elm Street toward the
overpass and scarcely be noticed from the outside. Between this carton and the half-
open window were three additional cartons arranged at such an angle that a rifle resting
on the top carton would be aimed directly at the motorcade as it moved away from the
building. The high stack of boxes, which first attracted Mooney's attention effectively
screened a person at the window from the view of anyone else on the floor.
Page 9
Mooney's discovery intensified the search for additional evidence on the sixth
floor, and at 1:22 p.m. approximately 10 minutes after the cartridge cases were found,
Deputy Sheriff Eugene Boone turned his flashlight in the direction of two rows of boxes
in the northwest corner near the staircase. Stuffed between the two rows was a bolt-
action rifle with a telescopic sight. The rifle was not touched until it could be
photographed. When Lt. J. C. Day of the police identification bureau decided that the
wooden stock and the metal knob at the end of the bolt contained no prints, he held the
rifle by the stock while Captain Fritz ejected a live shell by operating the bolt. Lieutenant
Day promptly noted that stamped on the rifle itself was the serial number "C2766" as
well as the markings "1940" "MADE ITALY" and "CAL. 6.5." The rifle was about 40
inches long and when disassembled it could fit into a handmade paper sack which after
the assassination, was found in the southeast corner of the building within a few feet of
the cartridge cases.
Excerpt from Pages 8 and 9 of the Warran Commission Report: Summary.
At 1:29 p.m., the police radio had noted the similarity in the descriptions of the suspects in the
Tippit shooting and the assassination. At 1:45 p.m., in response to Mrs. Postal's call, the police
radio sounded the alarm: "Have information a suspect just went in the Texas Theatre on West
Jefferson." Within minutes the theater was surrounded. The house lights were then turned up.
Patrolman M. N. McDonald and several other policemen approached the man, who had been
pointed out to them by Brewer.
McDonald ordered the man to his feet and heard him say, "Well, it's all over now." The
man drew a gun from his waist with one hand and struck the officer with the other. McDonald
struck out with his right hand and grabbed the gun with his left hand. After a brief struggle
McDonald and several other police officers disarmed and handcuffed the suspect and drove him
to police headquarters, arriving at approximately 2 p.m.
Excerpt from Page 8 of the Warran Commission Report: Summary.
[Prior to the assassination, on November 21st,] Oswald walked to Frazier's house about
half a block away and placed a long bulky package, made out of wrapping paper and tape, into
the rear seat of the car. He told Frazier that the package contained curtain rods. When they
reached the Depository parking lot, Oswald walked quickly ahead. Frazier followed and saw
Oswald enter the Depository Building carrying the long bulky package with him.
Excerpt from Page 15 of the Warran Commission Report: Summary.
Exhibit D Evidence
Warren Commissions Report
Instructions
The Warren Commission was created by President Lyndon B. Johnson to independently
investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, with approval from Congress. The
committee consisted of Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the United States, U.S. Senators
Richard Russell and John Cooper, U.S. Representatives Hale Boggs and Gerald Ford, former
CIA Director Allen Dulles, and John McCloy, former President of the World Bank. These
individuals were chosen because of the high level of respect that the general public had for
them. The 888 page report the commission created included evidence from numerous
witnesses to the event as well as expert testimony on a variety of topics related to the shooting.
As investigators, closely examine the Commissions findings and compare their conclusions with
the evidence that you have gathered through each of the four exhibits. As you compare
evidence, consider the following questions:
1. What evidence that you have collected confirms the Commissions findings?
2. What evidence that you have collected contradicts the Commissions findings?
3. Can any of this contradictory evidence be explained in a way that still allows the
Commissions findings to be plausible?
After you have finished reviewing the Commissions findings and comparing it with the evidence,
organize your thoughts related to the plausibility of this report. Is this a likely explanation for
what happened during the JFK assassination? Write a short response in your journal.
1. What evidence that you have collected confirms the findings presented in the article that
Lyndon B. Johnson was behind the assassination of President Kennedy?
2. What evidence that you have collected contradicts the articles findings?
3. Can any of this contradictory evidence be explained in a way that still allows the theory to be
plausible?
After you have finished reviewing the article and comparing it with the evidence, organize your
thoughts related to the plausibility of this theory. Is this a likely explanation for what happened
during the JFK assassination? Write a short response in your journal.
Its a hell of a thing. I actually knew this Jack Ruby fella. Murray Chotiner brought him in back in
47. Went by the name Rubinstein. An informant. Murray said he was one of Lyndon Johnsons
boys we put him on the payroll. ~ President Richard Nixon recognizing a connection
between Lyndon Johnson and Jack Ruby, Oswalds killer.
Stone, Roger, and Mike Colapietro. The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ. New York: Sky
horse Publishing, 2013, 18
Testimony From Victoria Adams, an employee at the Texas School Book Depository
Mr. BELIN - What is your occupation?
Miss ADAMS - I am employed as an office survey representative.
Mr. BELIN - By whom?
Miss ADAMS - Scott Foresman Co.
Mr. BELIN - Where do you work?
Miss ADAMS - On the fourth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.
Mr. BELIN - Where?
Miss ADAMS - 411 Elm.
Mr. BELIN - That is at the corner of Elm and Houston?
Miss ADAMS - That is correct.
Mr. BELIN - I might ask how old are you?
Miss ADAMS - Twenty-three.
Miss ADAMS - And from our vantage point we were able to see what the President's wife was
wearing, the roses in the car, and things that would attract men's attention. Then we heard---
then we were obstructed from the view.
Mr. BELIN - By what?
Miss ADAMS - A tree. and we heard a shot, and it was a pause, and then a second shot, and
then a third shot.
It sounded like a firecracker or a cannon at a football game, it seemed as if it came from the
right below rather than from the left above. Possibly because of the report. And after the third
shot, following that, the third shot, I went to the back of the building down the back stairs, and
encountered Bill Shelley and Bill Lovelady on the first floor on the way out to the Houston Street
dock.
Mr. BELIN - When you say on the way out to the Houston Street dock, you mean now you were
on the way out?
Mr. BELIN - When you got into the stockroom, where did you go?
Miss ADAMS - I went to the back stairs.
Mr. BELIN - Are there any other stairs that lead down from the fourth floor other than those back
stairs in the rear of the stockroom?
Miss ADAMS - No, sir.
Mr. BELIN - Those stairs would be in the northwest comer of the building, is that correct?
Miss ADAMS - That's correct.
Mr. BELIN - You took those stairs. Were you walking or running as you went down the stairs?
Miss ADAMS - I was running. We were running.
Mr. BELIN - What kind of shoes did you have on?
Miss ADAMS - Three-inch heels.
Mr. BELIN - You had heels. Now, as you were running down the stairs, did you encounter
anyone?
Miss ADAMS - Not during the actual running down the stairs; no, sir.
Mr. BELIN - After you left the Scott Foresman office and went into the stock-room, did you see
anyone until you got to the stairs on the fourth floor other than the person you were with?
Miss ADAMS - Outside of our office employees; no.
Mr. BELIN - Would these office employees that you might have seen, all be women?
Miss ADAMS - Yes, sir.
JFK Assassination Information Center. "Testimony of Miss Victoria Elizabeth Adams." http://
mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/adams_v.htm.
! ELLIS WASHINGTON
Aftertomorrowthose goddn Kennedys will never embarrass me again. Thats not a threat.
Thats a promise. LBJ to his mistress Madeleine Brown on the eve of JFK assassination
Did LBJ have JFK killed?
This question has endured ever since that fateful day of 50 years ago Nov. 22, 1963.Former
Nixon White House adviser and self-proclaimed GOP hit man Roger Stone makes this central
argument in his new book, The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ.Stones very
interesting narrative isnt another conspiracy theory book to add to the already voluminous
number of fantastical JFK assassination claims. Roger tells Reason Magazine Editor, Nick
Gillespie, The whole term conspiracy theorists is a pejorative that the mainstream media uses
to denigrate anyone who questions the governments version on virtually anything. Im not
talking conspiracy, Im talking facts.
In an interview with Abby Martin, who asks Stone, Whats the strongest piece of evidence that
implicates LBJ in Kennedys murder?, Stone replies, Probably the fingerprint of LBJs personal
hit man named, Malcom Mac Wallace that is found on a cardboard box on the sixth floor of the
Texas School Book Depository. Its the only print other than the prints of Lee Harvey Oswald that
I believe were planted there, so that is probably your strongest piece of evidence.
Secondarily, Johnsons mistress of 21 years, Madeleine Duncan Brown, who bore him an
illegitimate child, said Lyndon Johnson told her on the eve of the assassination,
Aftertomorrowthose godd-mn Kennedys will never embarrass me again. Thats not a threat.
Thats a promise.
And then lastly I think when the presidential motorcade pulled into Dealey Plaza in Dallas when
Vice President Johnsons car made the 120 degree turn on Elm St. into Dealey Plaza, Lyndon
Johnson, before the first shot was fired was on the floor of his car; he hits the deck. Theres
photographic evidence that proves this. So I would say that before, during and after the
assassination Lyndon Johnsons actions betray the fact that he is in fact the man yoking the
conspiracy, or in this case the plot that includes the CIA, organized crime and Big Texas Oil,
Stone contends.
When asked about how his book is different from all of the other books claiming various JFK
assassination conspiracy theories? Stones answer recounted his professional relationship over
many years as a trusted adviser to President Richard Nixon, who confessed to Stone that the
Warren Commission was the greatest hoax ever perpetrated. Stone again: Nixon never flatly
said who was responsible for Kennedys death, but he would say both he and Johnson wanted
to be president; the only difference, Nixon said he refused to kill for the job.
1. What evidence that you have collected confirms the findings presented in the article that Lee
Harvey Oswald was a Soviet agent?
2. What evidence that you have collected contradicts the articles findings?
3. Can any of this contradictory evidence be explained in a way that still allows the theory to be
plausible?
After you have finished reviewing the article and comparing it with the evidence, organize your
thoughts related to the plausibility of this theory. Is this a likely explanation for what happened
during the JFK assassination? Write a short response in your journal.
After returning to the United States from Russia, Oswald used the alias Alek J. Hidell and
rented a Post Office Box, under both Oswald and Hidell, that received subscriptions from The
Worker, an American Communist Party newspaper, and The Militant, a Socialist Workers Party
paper. Following the assassination, the FBI traced the rifle found in the Texas School Book
Depository to an A. Hidell. Oswald denied ever using this alias.
Breslow, Jason M. "8 Things You May Not Know About Lee Harvey Oswald." PBS Frontline. http://
www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-lee-harvey-oswald/.
On October 16, 1959, Oswald arrived in Moscow by train after crossing the border from Finland,
where he had secured a visa for a 6-day stay in the Soviet Union. He immediately applied for
Soviet citizenship. On the afternoon of October 21, 1959, Oswald was ordered to leave the
Soviet Union by 8 p.m. that evening. That same afternoon in his hotel room Oswald, in an
apparent suicide attempt, slashed his left wrist. He was hospitalized immediately. On October
31, 3 days after his release from the hospital, Oswald appeared at the American Embassy,
announced that he wished to renounce his U.S. citizenship and become a Russian citizen, and
handed the Embassy officer a written statement he had prepared for the occasion. When asked
his reasons, Oswald replied, "I am a Marxist." Oswald never formally complied with the legal
steps necessary to renounce his American citizenship. The Soviet Government did not grant his
request for citizenship, but in January 1960 he was given permission to remain in the Soviet
Union on a year-to-year basis. At the same time Oswald was sent to Minsk where he worked in
radio factory as an unskilled laborer. In January 1961 his permission to remain in the Soviet
Union was extended for another year. A few weeks later, in February 1961, he wrote to the
American Embassy in Moscow expressing a desire to return to the United States.
Excerpt from Page 12 of the Warran Commission Report: Summary.
The following month Oswald met a 19-year-old Russian girl, Marina Nikolaevna
Prusakova, a pharmacist, who had been brought up in Leningrad but was then living with an
aunt and uncle in Minsk. They were married on April 30, 1961.
Excerpt from Page 12 of the Warran Commission Report: Summary.
MOSCOW 'PROGRAMMED
OSWALD TO KILL JFK'
Former spy chief points to evidence in plain sight
Published: 11/17/2013 at 5:32 PM
Among the host of conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy are variations that point the finger at agencies of the U.S. government, all the way up
to the vice president.
Others connect the dots and find the Soviet Union at the center of the plot, highlighting Lee
Harvey Oswalds mysterious defection to the communist nation and return to the U.S. with a
Russian wife.
But a former Soviet-bloc spy chief who was active at the time of the Nov. 22, 1963,
assassination says Moscows fingerprints are on both scenarios.
Lt. Gen. Mihai Pacepa, in his book Disinformation, presents evidence that Oswald was
recruited by the KGB to kill Kennedy when he was a U.S. Marine stationed at the Atsugi Air
Station in Japan, the home of the U-2 spy plane.
The widely circulated idea that the U.S. government was behind the assassination was planted
in the minds of American citizens through a Soviet disinformation campaign, Pacepa contends.
Pacepa previously presented his theory in his 2007 book Programmed to Kill: Lee Harvey
Oswald, the Soviet KGB, and the Kennedy Assassination. But he writes in Disinformation that
since then, a good deal of unimpeachable information has become available, providing
fascinating insights into the KGBs disinformation operation aimed at framing the CIA as the
behind-the-scenes perpetrator of President Kennedys assassination.
Pacepas new book, co-authored with historian and law professor Ronald Rychlak, was
published earlier this year with a companion feature-length film documentary of the same name
1. What evidence that you have collected confirms the Umbrella Man theory?
3. Can any of this contradictory evidence be explained in a way that still allows the theory to be
plausible?
After you have finished reviewing the article and comparing it with the evidence, organize your
thoughts related to the plausibility of this theory. Is this a likely explanation for what happened
during the JFK assassination? Write a short response in your journal.
1. What evidence that you have collected confirms the presence of a second shooter in the
JFK assassination?
2. What evidence that you have collected contradicts this theory and further confirms the
Warren Commissions findings?
3. Can any of this contradictory evidence be explained in a way that still allows the theory to be
plausible?
After you have finished reviewing the article and comparing it with the evidence, organize your
thoughts related to the plausibility of this theory. Is this a likely explanation for what happened
during the JFK assassination? Write a short response in your journal.
The autopsy disclosed the large head wound observed at Parkland and the wound in the front of
the neck which had been enlarged by the Parkland doctors when they performed the
tracheotomy. Both of these wounds were described in the autopsy report as being "presumably
of exit." In addition the autopsy revealed a small wound of entry in the rear of the President's
skull and another wound of entry near the base of the back of the neck. The autopsy report
stated the cause of death as "Gunshot wound, head" and the bullets which struck the President
were described as having been fired "from a point behind and somewhat above the level of the
deceased."
Excerpt from page 4 of the Warren Commission Report Summary
Oswald again fired the M-1 rifle for record on May 6, 1959, and this time he shot a score of 191
on a shorter course than before, only 1 point over the minimum required to be a "marksman."
According to one of his fellow marines, Oswald was not particularly interested in his rifle
performance, and his unit was not expected to exhibit the usual rifle proficiency.
Excerpt from page 11 of the Warren Commission Report Summary
The third obvious wound at the time of the examination was a huge defect over the right side of
the skull. This defect involved both the scalp and the underlying skull and the brain substance
protrudingI will refer back to the x-rays we had previously prepared. These disclosed multiple
minute fragmentsthese tiny fragments were seen dispersed through the substance of the
brainI would say between thirty or forty fragments. ~ James Humes testimony regarding the
autopsy results
McDonald, Malcom. JFK: The Smoking Gun. Film. Directed by Steve Lucas. Montreal, Canada:
Muse Entertainment Enterprises, 2013.
The two wounds on President Kennedy come from two different types of ammunition. The first
wound, which passed through Kennedy and into Governor Connally, was likely a full metal
jacket bullet, which is designed to travel straight through a target. This is what Oswald fired from
his rifle, a 6.5mm full metal jacket bullet. The second wound is characteristic of a frangible
bullet, designed to explode on impact. Additionally, the autopsy report states that the entry
would found in the back of Kennedys head had a diameter of 6mm, indicating this wound was
from a second type of ammo.
McDonald, Malcom. JFK: The Smoking Gun. Film. Directed by Steve Lucas. Montreal, Canada:
Muse Entertainment Enterprises, 2013.
The third cartridge found at the Texas School Book Depository had a dent in it, indicating it was
likely used as a chamber plug to keep moisture and grit out, which Oswald might have ejected
this before taking aim from his sniper position. This indicates he fired only two shots: one that
missed and the second that wounded Kennedy in the throat.
McDonald, Malcom. JFK: The Smoking Gun. Film. Directed by Steve Lucas. Montreal, Canada:
Muse Entertainment Enterprises, 2013.