When I was recently on a business trip to Dallas, I extended my stay to go to this museum and I am sure glad that I did. The cost was $10 per person and I think it was a great deal.
The museum is located in the 6th floor of the “Book Depository” building in downtown Dallas. This is the building where they believe that the fatal shots originated. The building is no longer used as a book depository, but the area around the window where the shots were fired and the area where the police later discovered the rifle have been restored to how they looked at the time.
The museum had a huge collection of photographs and artifacts from the Kennedy family as well as many from the hours before and after the shooting.
The museum is laid out in chronological order – starting with the Kennedy family, then how JFK became president, then through his presidency, then many details on the assassination and its aftermath. They do highlight the conspiracy theories, the Warren Commission, and other investigations that have taken place.
They present the stories with a combination of text, photos, artifacts, and videos. As someone who was not yet born at the time of his assassination, it was very interesting for me to see the affect of this event on the United States and even the world. It was also very interesting to see how different things were back then.
We went to the museum on a Saturday afternoon and the place was packed! I would highly recommend trying to fit this in on a weekday if you do plan to go. Check out their hours though as they are not open in the evenings and you want to give yourself enough time to get through the large exhibit.
There is a store at the end of the museum – I found a great book there that has a lot of the same information as the exhibit – but it is not nearly as dramatic as seeing it in person.
There is also a lot of great information about the museum and their exhibit at their website jfk.org http://www.jfk.org/
If you are ever in the Dallas area – I highly recommend you check out this museum!
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