One
man’s trash is another man’s treasure. I
ran into my treasure the other day as I was rummaging through the library’s
surplus book room. It’s not my first
time; I’ve been doing it for decades searching for the good stuff of American
history. It’s like antique hunting –
very addicting. I noticed the library
has upped its price on most donated books and magazines to 25 cents and in some
cases even to $1. Apparently the library
doesn’t value historical research material.
I believe the JFK assassination warrants mandatory
course study in every college.
There
was a time when I could research the reference areas of the libraries in Kansas
City with no problem. (Mid-Continent
North in Independence, Mo., across from the Truman Presidential Library was my
favorite.) Anyone had free access to
comb the bound magazines of their choice. You
can’t do that anymore because people started stealing them. You have to ask the librarian what copies you
want to see and he’ll bring them to you – a ridiculous situation. How do I know which ones if I’ve never seen
them? I miss the joy of accidental
discovery in public libraries.
All
too often I’ve found stacks of National Geographic Magazines whose only
function in their used condition is as ship ballast or waiting room reading
material. (People like the pictures
especially if you’re in a dentist’s office.
There, people are too terrified to read.) This find really surprised me
because the stack of JFK magazines was for sale, so I bought it for the hefty
price of $2.50. By now you know I’m a
Kennedy conspiracy believer:
·
Life, July 25,
1960 “The Demonstration for Jack Kennedy”
·
Saturday Evening Post,
Oct. 26, 1963 “How Jackie Kennedy Decorated …”
·
Look, December
31, 1963 with “In Memory of John F. Kennedy” patch
·
Look, Jan. 28,
1964 “Valliant is the Word for Jacqueline”
·
Life, Oct. 2,
1964, “The Warren Report” with 8 Zapruder frames
·
Life, July 16,
1965 “A Thousand Days” “Start of A
Series”
·
Life, Nov. 5,
1965 “A Thousand days” Part 4, Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
·
Look, Feb. 7,
1967 “The Day JFK Died”
·
Look, Feb. 21,
1967 “Flight from Dallas”
·
Life, Nov. 24,
1967 “Last Seconds of the Motorcade”
From
time to time I’ll be commenting on these contemporary primary sources. As I casually glanced at some of the
magazines, I noticed pictures I’ve never seen in popular JFK assassination material. Some clever disinformation techniques were
just beginning to be implemented after the Warren Commission Report and I’ll
point them out. I was also surprised how
militant the Civil Rights Platform was in 1960 at Democratic National
Convention. (We are led to believe
Kennedy’s position was one of conservative reluctance.) Documents that contain insights about
America’s most notorious coup d’état are worthy of preservation and study. On the other hand, Warren Commission supporters probably
would sell them for 25 cents a copy.
