Newman Family Living History Program

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Videotaped Living History program with Bill and Gayle Newman and sons Bill III (Billy) and Clayton Newman. The Newmans were the closest civilian eyewitnesses to President Kennedy at the time of the fatal shot and were interviewed on local television within fifteen minutes of the assassination. This was the first time all four family members appeared together for a discussion about the Kennedy assassination. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on November 9, 2013 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is fifty minutes long.

Object Details

Object title:

Newman Family Living History Program

Date:

11/09/2013

Medium:

Born digital (.m2ts file)

Dimensions:

Duration: 50 Minutes

Credit line:

Oral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

Object number:

2013.001.0139

Curatorial Note:

Prior to this 2013 panel discussion, Bill and Gayle Newman recorded oral histories with the Museum in 1993 (Bill and Gayle Newman Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (jfk.org)) and 2003 (Kennedy Assassination: Bill and Gayle Newman, Part 1 | C-SPAN.org). Together and separately, Bill and Gayle also participated in numerous public and educational programs at the Museum over the years. A rare solo appearance by Gayle may be seen here on the Museum's YouTube channel: Living History with Gayle Newman (youtube.com). I also had the privelege of moderating a conversation with Bill and Gayle at the 2016 JFK Lancer research conference in Dallas: JFK Lancer 2016: A Conversation with Bill & Gayle Newman (youtube.com). Having personally known the Newmans for most of my life, as a result of Bill's close friendship with my late grandfather, I occasionally heard Gayle express her hope that one day the entire family would come together for a program. I made it a personal and professional goal to see that hope become reality at the 50th anniversary of the assassination in 2013. I remember that the Newmans' sons, Billy and Clayton, were initially not enthusiastic about such a program, but one word from their mother changed that. In fact, Gayle personally brought the boys to the Museum the day before this public program so that I could interview the two of them together, separate from their parents, to get a sense of their early childhood memories. To date, this 2013 public program is the only time that all four Newmans have appeared on stage together for a panel about being the closest civilian eyewitnesses to the Kennedy assassination. After moderating a great many conversations here at the Museum over the last twenty-plus years, I would have to say that this conversation with the Newmans remains one of my all-time favorite public programs. - Stephen Fagin, Curator