Hello and welcome to The Rob Burgess Show. I am, of course, your host, Rob Burgess. On this our 274th episode our guest is Stephen Fagin, Curator of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and author of “Assassination and Commemoration.” Since joining the Museum in 2000, he has appeared in numerous documentaries and television programs and given hundreds of media interviews, including appearances on the Today Show and Good Morning America. Fagin, who holds degrees from Southern Methodist University and the University of Oklahoma, also serves as Associate Editor of Legacies Dallas History Journal. In many ways, this episode has been 12 years in the making. In early 2013, when I was Night Editor of the Kokomo Tribune, a reader came into the office carrying a stack of yellowing editions of the paper. She said she had found them in her parents’ attic and wanted to see if we wanted them before they headed to the trash heap. In the stack were three copies concerning the assassination of President John F. Kennedy: the Nov. 23, 24 and 27, 1963 editions of the paper. A few months later, in November 2013, I wrote a story about these historical newspapers and also a column about the assassination itself. After I left the Kokomo Tribune in 2017, I packed these newspapers up in a box and mostly didn't look at them for the next few years. Then, a few months ago, I found out I would have the opportunity to travel to Dallas for a work conference. I contacted the museum to see if they might be interested in receiving these newspapers as a donation. I also asked if someone there might be available to be a guest on this podcast. Megan Bryant, director of collections and intellectual property, kindly responded and said they would be glad to accept this donation. She also put me in touch with Stephen, who also kindly agreed to be interviewed while I was there. So, this past week, I carefully packed the newspapers in my bag and headed off to Dallas. After my conference finished, I headed over to the museum. I met Megan and handed over the newspapers, which are now housed under the prestigious title, “Rob Burgess collection.” Stephen and I then made our way to their studio on the first floor of the former Texas School Book Depository, which was a surreal experience to say the least. I then took the elevator to the sixth floor to check out the museum itself. During my visit, I also had the opportunity to hear Stephen deliver one of his weekly gallery talks, in which he featured Lee Harvey Oswald's 14-karat gold wedding band. Thank you to Megan, Stephen and the rest of the museum staff for such a wonderful experience. I have included links to photos of the historical newspapers I donated along with photos I took while I was in Dallas of Dealey Plaza, John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza, the stockade fence behind the Grassy Knoll and the museum itself. I also have links to my 2013 story, column and a 2019 story I wrote when I was Editor of the Wabash Plain Dealer in which I had the opportunity to interview the late, great musician David Crosby, including about his long-held belief that Kennedy was murdered by a conspiracy featuring multiple shooters. Nov. 23, 24 and 27, 1963 - Kokomo Tribune: https://archive.org/details/1963-Kokomo-Tribune-Newspapers Close-up photos: https://archive.org/details/kokomo-tribune-jfk-coverage Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: https://archive.org/details/sixth-floor-museum-at-dealey-plaza The Stockade Fence Behind the Grassy Knoll: https://archive.org/details/stockade-fence-behind-grassy-knoll Dealey Plaza and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza: https://archive.org/details/Dealey-Plaza-and-John-F-Kennedy-Memorial-Plaza 2013-11-23 – Rob Burgess – KT – How the Kokomo Tribune covered the assassination: http://bit.ly/4ikauG6 2013-11-20 – Rob Burgess – KT – House of Burgess: Down the JFK rabbit hole: https://bit.ly/4iMCL8o 2019-08-03 – Rob Burgess - WPD - You will remember David Crosby's name: https://bit.ly/4bRyi1T