The 60th Anniversary of the Assassination of JFK

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart Episode: The 60th Anniversary of the Assassination of JFK Date: November 21, 2023 Guest: Ella Wright, Director of Nat Geo’s “JFK: One Day in America”

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Overview

This episode commemorates the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, reflecting on how this seismic event changed American history, the birth of modern live news coverage, and the personal stories of those who witnessed it. Alison Stewart speaks with Ella Wright, director of National Geographic’s docuseries “JFK: One Day in America,” which takes a unique, human-focused approach to documenting the tragedy and its emotional reverberations. Listeners of various ages and backgrounds call in to share vivid personal memories, adding to the poignant atmosphere of remembrance.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Human Approach to a Dramatized Tragedy

[05:55–06:35]

• Ella Wright explains that while much has been produced about JFK’s assassination, her series intentionally avoids conspiracies and analysis, instead focusing on the immediate, human experience.
  • “We wanted to sort of shed fresh light, these events…explore the human experience of those events and that time and to really immerse the viewer in that world of the 1960s.” — Ella Wright (06:10)
• The project uses colorized archival footage (with permission from the 6th Floor Museum) to make history feel more immediate and emotionally resonant.
  • “One of my favorite moments is you've got the crowds listening to coverage…People react, you know, incredibly viscerally.” — Ella Wright (07:27)

The International Impact & Editorial Choices

[06:35–07:49]

• As a British director, Wright notes her outsider’s perspective emphasized JFK’s global icon status and the universal scale of the shock and grief.

Collaboration and Colorization Choices

[07:49–09:21]

• Colorization was used sparingly for maximum impact—iconic moments like Lee Harvey Oswald in police custody were chosen to help viewers “really bring to life” history.
  • “We wanted to use it kind of sparingly and during moments that had the most impact.” — Ella Wright (08:57)
• The 6th Floor Museum’s custodianship and specialist advice ensured technical and historical rigor.

Listener Memories: A Tapestry of Grief

[09:32–18:14]

• Listeners from NYC, Argentina, and beyond call in, painting a vivid, global tableau of the day:
  • In New York, a Bouvier family member was ushered out of class by Secret Service (Victoria, 09:32).
  • In Buenos Aires, “People were literally weeping in the streets.” (Lydia, 10:15)
  • The event instantly divided public opinion on who was to blame—communists, far-right, even Texans—and listeners felt shock, fear, and collective trauma.

Editorial Focus and Emotional Resonance

[12:18–13:21]

• The docuseries omits conspiracy theories entirely, opting instead to “allow emotion to be our focus.” (Ella Wright, 12:33)
• The approach “allowed more space for people to really experience those feelings and to connect with the characters.” (Ella Wright, 13:13)

Sensitive Archival Decisions

[13:21–13:54]

• Graphic materials, such as images of Jackie Kennedy’s blood-stained suit, remained in black and white due to archival restrictions and respect for the subject matter.

Misunderstandings and “Sliding Doors” Moments

[14:04–15:06]

• The documentary reflects on “sliding doors” moments—such as Kennedy insisting the convertible roof remain off—and surprising aspects, like the openness of the police investigation, that feel alien compared to modern times.

Listener Calls: The Diversity of Public Reaction

[15:11–17:52]

• Stories include seeing the motorcade in Texas the previous day, immediate confusion and tears in NYC classrooms, and a Venezuelan immigrant stunned to see American stability so shaken.
  • “I kept telling my friends, this should not happen here. This is just incredible.” (Michael, 16:56)

The Personal Kennedy & The Power of Archive

[18:14–19:30]

• The series opens with intimate, family scenes—Kennedy relaxed with Jackie and daughter—underscoring the personal dimension of the loss.
  • “We wanted the viewers to feel that this was a personal loss… the loss of a husband and a father as well as…the loss of a president.” — Ella Wright (18:24)
• Special attention is given to Jackie Kennedy’s resilience in the aftermath.
  • “She’s incredibly stoic and incredibly brave… the way she carries herself throughout these events really struck me.” — Ella Wright (19:17)

Secret Service & Personal Reminiscences

[19:30–22:09]

• Secret Service agents in the film are frank, highlighting their own emotional wounds and the Kennedys’ humanity.
• Wright discusses how their closeness with the Kennedys provides rare personal perspectives, enriching the sense of loss.

Media, the Birth of Rolling News, and Gender

[23:57–25:45]

• The assassination was America’s first “rolling news” event, with intensive, unbroken media coverage.
  • “Every twist and turn of the story was captured on camera, which was extraordinary for us…” — Ella Wright (25:45)
• Peggy Simpson, a pioneering female AP reporter, was present when Jack Ruby shot Oswald, giving a woman’s perspective from the fray.

A Multiplicity of Reactions

[26:18–28:49]

• Callers express collective mourning (especially in Irish communities) but also recall antagonism towards JFK in the South—some were even glad at his death.
  • “There was so much animosity towards JFK in New Orleans, mostly because of the integration situation that was going on down there.” (John, 27:17)

Hostility and Irony in Texas

[29:07–30:10]

• While Texas was hostile to Kennedy (“there were people at Dealey Plaza with anti-Kennedy signs”), the warmth of the reception that morning surprised even the entourage, accentuating the shock of the tragedy.

The Controversy Over Colorization

[30:10–30:51]

• Listener concern: does colorization dull the emotional impact?
  • Wright: The team prioritized accuracy and sensitivity, consulting experts at every stage.

Capturing Testimony Before It's Lost

[31:12–31:50]

• A key aim was to preserve living witnesses’ accounts for the historical record before they are lost to time.
  • “A lot of these people…were very aware that this might be the last time that they told their story…” — Ella Wright (31:13)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “[We] wanted to explore the human experience of those events and…immerse the viewer in that world of the 1960s so that they were experiencing it emotionally.” — Ella Wright [06:10]
• “He was a global icon as well as a sort of source of inspiration for the American people…People react, you know, incredibly viscerally. It’s, you know, it’s very emotional. You really get a sense of just how much he meant to them.” — Ella Wright [07:27]
• Victoria (listener): “Two Secret Service police came in and quickly removed [my classmate] from the classroom…That is how we found out that JFK had been murdered.” [09:32]
• Lydia (listener): “When we came outside, people were literally weeping in the streets. It was just a most surreal situation…” [10:15]
• Alison Stewart: “You keep the editorial lane very narrow. There’s no discussion of conspiracies…what did that narrow focus allow you to do?”
  Ella Wright: “It really allowed emotion, I suppose, to be our focus.” [12:31]
• Peggy Simpson (archive): “They say the cops know this guy. They say it’s Jack Ruby…He was a known person. He wasn’t somebody that they expected would do any harm.” [24:31–25:17]
• John (listener): “When he said that, two or three guys in the back of the class stood up and yelled, and they were excited about it. There was so much animosity towards JFK in New Orleans…History needs to record that.” [27:17]
• Mary (listener): “When I turned around and went home, it was like a member of the family died…how it affected the Irish community enormously. He was so loved and respected.” [26:18]

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Important Timestamps

• 01:33 — Alison introduces the JFK assassination segment.
• 03:33 — Clip from “JFK: One Day in America” trailer; survivors’ emotional recollections.
• 05:05 — Ella Wright joins the discussion.
• 09:32–18:14 — Listener calls and personal anecdotes from New York, Argentina, Texas, Venezuela.
• 18:14 — Discussion of opening the series with Kennedy family scenes.
• 23:57 — Introduction of Peggy Simpson, female AP reporter.
• 24:31–25:17 — Audio describing Jack Ruby shooting Oswald and its confounding impact.
• 26:18–28:49 — International mourning, Southern animosity recounted.
• 30:10 — Concerns and reasoning behind colorization of archival footage.
• 31:13 — The urgency and significance of capturing witness testimony now.

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Conclusion

This episode of “All Of It” embodies the values of commemoration, witness, and historical empathy. By focusing on the raw, human aspects of the JFK assassination—through both the documentary director’s intent and the tapestry of listener memories—the conversation brings an emotional immediacy to a chapter of history that is too often defined by its myths and conspiracies. The episode stands as a living archive in itself, providing community listeners and new generations alike with a deeply relevant, humane portrait of that fateful day and its aftermath.

Transcript

[Ella Wright]

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[Caller/Listener]

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[Alison Stewart]

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[Caller/Listener]

Listener Supported WNYC Studios.

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it. I'm Alison Stewart live from the WNYC studios in soho. Thank you for spending part of your day with us. I'm grateful you're here. Speaking of gratitude, on today's show, we'll talk about it with Chris Duffy, the host of the podcast how to Be a Better Human. We'll also learn about the New York Times series Overlooked with founder and co author Amy Padnani. It's now a book. And we'll speak with the costume designer behind the latest Hunger Games film. That's the plan. So let's get this started with a somber anniversary right about now. 60 years ago today, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was in Dallas, the second to last stop on a five city, two day tour of the Lone Star State. In anticipation of his 1964 re election campaign, the President was fatally shot at approximately 12:30pm Central Time while in an open car motorcade. His assassination changed so much, it altered the course of American history. The AfterMath became the first live television breaking news event. It also changed the people there. That day. The onlookers who came to Dealey Plaza to catch a glimpse of Jack and Jackie, the teenager who drove his co worker Lee to work at the book Depository that morning and the Secret Service agents who still carry guilt. Their stories are the meat of the National Geographic series One Day in America. The surviving witnesses are now in their 80s and early 90s and spoke to filmmakers for hours about the facts and their feelings. Plus, there's something rare. In conjunction with the 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, the filmmakers were allowed to colorize some of the museum's archival footage. We see Lee Harvey Oswald in custody in color and some of the happier moments of the Kennedys life and the color of Mrs. Kennedy's suit that day. The result is, as a review and Salon put it, jfk One Day in America restores the humanity to one of America's most dramatized tragedies. Let's listen to a little bit of the trailer.

[Caller/Listener]

Thinking back, I'll never forget those sounds. Pow. Pow. Pow. It's been 60 years this year there are a few of us left, but very few. I think about the event as it happened and I go right back to the moment that it happened.

[Alison Stewart]

We were one lane width away from him when he was shot in the head.

[Caller/Listener]

I saw a father take his little boy and put his body on top of the boy.

[Alison Stewart]

I think my maternal instinct kicked in.

[Caller/Listener]

I jumped to the rear bumper. Mrs. Kennedy was screaming, I love you, Jack. I wasn't fast enough. Mrs. Kennedy came forward and I could see blood on her dress where she crayed out the President's head in her lap. And she said, let them see what they have done.

[Alison Stewart]

Jfk, One Day in America can be seen now on that geo. Joining me now is its director, Ella Wright. Ella, thank you for being with us.

[Ella Wright]

Thank you so much for having me.

[Alison Stewart]

Listeners, we'd like to get you in on this conversation. What do you remember about the day JFK was assassinated? Where were you? How did you find out? What did the world feel like that day? In the days after? Were you watching when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby on live tv? Maybe you visited Dealey Plaza in Texas. What were your thoughts? Our Phone lines are open. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. You can text to us at that number. You can also join us On Air. 2124-3396-9221-2433 wnyc. Or you can reach out via social media, wnyc. So Ella, where do you start on a project like this? What's the first. What are the first steps?

[Ella Wright]

Wow. I know. Well, it's such. Obviously it's such a well covered subject matter. And I guess our first steps were really that we. We wanted to bring a different approach to it. So I think a lot of the documentaries that have been made focus heavily on the conspiracy and take quite an analytical approach. So we kind of. We wanted to sort of shed fresh light these events. And the way we wanted to do that really, was to explore the human experience of those events and that time and to really immerse the viewer in that world of the 1960s so that they were experiencing it emotionally.

[Alison Stewart]

As people can hear from your accent, you're not American. You're actually joining us from the UK right now. What impact do you think not being American had on your editorial choices?

[Ella Wright]

That's an interesting question. I think, you know, for us, it was really important to kind of convey, as well as the experience of that day and the experience of the people who were there, the power of JFK and just how much he meant to people. You know, he was a global icon as well as a sort of source of inspiration for the American people. And so it was really important to us that people understood, you know, especially an audience who may not have been alive at that time, just how, you know, just how much influence he had and just how much it kind of mattered to the people who were. Who were alive at that. At that point. And I think you really see in that footage, in the archival footage, people reacting incredibly emotionally. I mean, one of my favorite moments is you've got the crowds listening to coverage of the assassination outside the Rockefeller Center. People react, you know, incredibly viscerally. It's, you know, it's very emotional. You really get a sense of just how much he meant to them.

[Alison Stewart]

What was the nature of the collaboration with the 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza?

[Ella Wright]

So the 6th Floor were incredibly helpful to us. They're actually custodians of most of the archival footage, and we tell the story using testimony from people who were there and archival footage from the time. I mean, one of the things that was really important to us was that it felt as sort of unmediated as possible and accessible to anyone. And so we agreed with them that we would colorize the footage for the first time, you know, which is something they've never done before. But they were impressed by the scope of the project and the integrity of the project. And we worked with them and a company in France who specialise in colorization to colorize bits of that footage. That had never been seen before.

[Alison Stewart]

How did you decide to. What would be colorized?

[Ella Wright]

So it was a real mixture of. What we really wanted to do was find moments where colorization would have a huge amount of impact. So for example, Lee Harvey Oswald, the moment he's brought through the police department, we felt strongly that that should be in color. That's an incredibly iconic piece of footage. But, you know, it sort of really brings it to life. I think seeing him in color for the first time, I mean, we couldn't colorize sort of every part footage because of the format of the media. So we wanted to use it kind of sparingly and during moments that had the most impact.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's take some calls. Our phone lines are full. Let's talk to Victoria calling in from New York City. Hi Victoria, thank you for calling in.

[Caller/Listener]

Thank you very much. I think I was about 9 or 10 at the time and I was going to school here in Manhattan at the Lychee Francaise de New York, which was a French school. English was taught as the foreign language. And I was in class and my next door neighbor next to me was a woman of the Bouvier family. And two Secret Service police came in and quickly removed her from the classroom, explaining this was for her protection. And that is how we found out that JFK had been murdered.

[Alison Stewart]

Victoria, thank you for sharing that, that memory. Let's talk to Lydia from Yonkers. Hello Lydia, thank you so much for calling into wnyc. You're on the air.

[Caller/Listener]

Thank you. Thank you for receiving my phone call. Yeah, and on this day in my life, I was a five year old child with my mother in Argentina, in Buenos Aires. My father had just left two weeks earlier to emigrate here, set up an apartment for us. And my mother and I were leaving a doctor's appointment and that's where she learned the news. And when we came outside, people were literally weeping in the streets. It was just a most surreal situation that as a child I'd never seen anything like it. I was so confused. And of course my mother was terrified thinking we're trying to leave a troubled country and now, you know, where are we ending up in the United States? What's going to happen? It was all very traumatizing to say the least.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, Lydia, thank you for calling in. That brings me to something I found very interesting in your documentary, Ella, by the way, my guess is Ella Wright, she's the director of jfk. One day in America is there are some box pops from different people and they begin assigning blame to different groups right from the beginning. Some said communists, some said extreme far rights groups. What did you hear in those interviews that made you want to include them and maybe even have some resonance today?

[Ella Wright]

Yeah, I mean, I think it's interesting, as you say, like, there are. There are parts of the story that feel incredibly resonant. You know, you have this sense that America was a divided country to a certain extent. And I guess, you know, we wanted to. We wanted to include those box pops to sort of highlight those divisions. But also it was important to us that the story was unfolding minute by minute. So I think, you know, when there is a sort of a live investigation unfolding like that, there is a. There is a sense of uncertainty. And. And so we wanted to kind of keep people in the moment and sort of explain how the investigation unfolded and evolved without hindsight, if that makes sense.

[Alison Stewart]

You keep the editorial lane very narrow. There's no discussion of conspiracies. There's no discussion of infidelity. Why did you decide, well, what did the narrow focus allow you to do in this film?

[Ella Wright]

I think that focus really allowed us. It really allowed emotion, I suppose, to be our sort of. Our focus. And that's sort of what we were hoping to achieve. We wanted people to understand the emotional impact of these events, you know, both on those people who were there and experienced them. I mean, as you mentioned, Clint Hill, Jackie's bodyguard, basically tried to take a bullet for JFK and narrowly missed. And it's still something that haunts him, that sort of weighs on him. And at the same time, as I say, we wanted to get a sense of the emotional impact of how it felt people across America. So I think by being quite purist about that approach, we allowed more space for people to really experience those feelings and to connect with the characters.

[Alison Stewart]

This is a little bit of a harsh question to ask, but I'm going to ask it, and I mean it, from a place of curiosity and inquiry. Did you have discussions regarding the colorization about what to do about Kennedy's injury and the blood on Mrs. Kennedy's suit?

[Ella Wright]

I can honestly say I think those. Those photographs, we chose to keep them black and white. And I think that was actually to do with the archival source.

[Alison Stewart]

So.

[Ella Wright]

And we wanted to sort of, you know, we had to adhere to certain. To certain rules actually, surrounding that. So it wasn't something that we. We really had discussed, actually.

[Alison Stewart]

What is a common misunderstanding about what happened that day that you. You now understand after spending hours and hours and years on this project?

[Ella Wright]

Well, I think I don't know if there are misunderstandings, but I suppose, you know, we were interested in those sort of sliding doors moments. So, for example, you know, there's that moment we mentioned where, where it's like President Kennedy, you know, wanted to keep the hood off, off the car because he wanted to appear visible to people. There were also things in the footage, I suppose, that really surprised me. So, you know, we've spoken about the fact that there are similarities with America today, in America in the 60s, but actually there were things and footage that felt really alien as well. So, like, for example, the moment that police carry the murder weapon through the third floor of the police department and the moment that Lee Harvey Oswald gives a press conference, those are things that I found incredibly surprising and interesting.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's take some calls. Let's talk to Cynthia from Washington Heights. Hi, Cynthia. Thank you for calling in.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi, thank you for taking my call. I was a senior in high school in San Antonio that day. The motorcade had come down the street, the big road from the airport right in front of our high school the day before, and there were huge crowds. Everyone from the school was out there cheering and waving. LBJ, Mrs. Mrs. Kennedy, Mr. And President Kennedy. So it was a very personal thing for us. And the next day we were in class, it was around midday, and all of a sudden the radio feet free feed came on. I think it was CBS came with no explanation. It just started. And you were saying, what is a mistake? What's going on? And then you could hear that they were talking about President Kennedy had been shot and everyone was just crying and so stunned. And then in the aftermath, you would hear that Texans were the instead, not just communists, but Texans were to blame for the assassination. And particularly people who lived in Dallas heard that all the time, that Dallas was responsible. But to this day, most of us who were there are, in that sense, still remember it and talk about it.

[Alison Stewart]

Cynthia, thank you for calling in. Text was playing miniature golf with my grandfather on the Asbury park boardwalk that day. An announcement was made and everyone left, went home stunned and watched the news for the rest of the day. Michael is calling in from Manhattan. Michael, thank you for calling in. You were on the air.

[Caller/Listener]

Thanks for taking my call. I was in seventh grade at Robert F. Wagner Junior High School 167 on the east side, and it was a Friday afternoon. Mr. Greenhutt, social studies class. The PA system went on, and he was a very funny man. And when it went off, he said, oh, somebody stolen the, somebody stolen the chairs out of the dining room. So everybody laughed and we didn't quite hear what was going on. And then we did hear it and everybody just froze, totally stunned. And we were immediately sent home. So I was walking home with some friends and I'm originally from Venezuela and my parents had left there with me because just to avoid this sort of thing because there had been assassinations and political unrest down there. And I just kept talking about telling my friends, this should not happen here. This is just incredible. And then we spent the rest of the weekend, literally from morning to night, just watching everything that went on. I mean, I remember every second.

[Alison Stewart]

Michael, thank you for calling in. We're discussing the anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy Jr. There's a terrific three part series called JFK One Day in America. It's from Nat Geo. I'm speaking with this director, Ella Wright. Ella, the film actually starts with Jack and Jackie's relationship and their life as a couple. And we see Kennedy in a really relaxed state.

[Ella Wright]

State.

[Alison Stewart]

He's on the family boat off the coast of the Cape, curled up with his daughter. Some of that is in color, some of it is in black and white. Why did you want to begin the film there?

[Ella Wright]

Yeah, that was really important for us, I think, because we wanted the viewers to feel that this was a personal loss. This was the loss of a husband and a father as well as, you know, the loss of a president. And we also wanted people to understand, I suppose, the closeness of Clint Hill and his relationship within the fabric of the Kennedy family. You meet him on board that boat as well. And I think it's sort of important for people to understand that, you know, he was also losing a friend as well as, as his boss and as his president. And we were really interested. One of the things when we started moving through the archive and listening to the testimony is we were really interested in Jackie's. And I think in this documentary you see her in a different way. You know, she's incredibly stoic and incredibly brave. You know, someone who was obviously sitting next to her husband when he was shot. But the way she carries herself throughout these events really struck me as incredibly brave.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's listen to another clip from the film, One JFK One Day in America, the series. The first voice you'll hear is Sid Davis, a correspondent for Westinghouse, followed by the voice of Clint Hill, who was mentioned, who was on Mrs. Kennedy's security detail. And they are describing the morning of November 22nd and how Jackie's presence was a little bit unusual, but, but very welcome.

[Caller/Listener]

She had been through a terrible period, previous four months. Her baby, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy died in August. And so she was getting over that. This was her first visit out of the White House in the public. And so it was an uplifting thing for people to see her out and smiling. Prior to that, you'd never see them hug or kiss or hold hands in public. From that point on, they didn't care who, who was there. They'd hold hands, they'd hug. And it changed their relationship. It really changed everything. I've never seen her happier than she was that morning.

[Alison Stewart]

You know, I was really struck by how the Secret Service agents were so very willing to talk about the Kennedys personal life and that they really understood a lot about them as a compa. A couple. Ella, why did you think they wanted to talk about that?

[Ella Wright]

I think again for them, you know, they, they really wanted, you know, people to sort of understand Kennedy as a person as well. And, and you know, the impact that this tragedy had on his family. You know, there's an incredibly moving moment during the funeral where you see, you know, his, his son John. John, you know, saluting the casket. And so I think, you know, because they had that closeness, I think it was important for them to sort of highlight that aspect of the tragedy as well. And it's sort of, it kind of works really well in the series because we're able to kind of, you know, to show the viewers what was going on at that moment. So, you know, we're in the breakfast at Fort Worth, but then you have people like Sid and like Clinton sort of telling you the behind the scenes story which really adds to that tragedy. Knowing that sort of, you know, Jackie had been through this, this personal tragedy and that she and JFK had come through it only, you know, to be hit by this, this other incredible tragedy.

[Alison Stewart]

We're discussing JFK One Day in America, a new docu series from National Geographic. We're speaking with its director, Ella Wright. We'll have more about the film and take more of your calls. Your remembrances of the day that John F. Kennedy Jr. Was assassinated. This is all of it. This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. My guest is Ella Wright. She's the director of JFK One Day in America. It is now on National Geographic. Let's talk to Josh calling in from Brooklyn. Hi Josh, thanks for calling all of it.

[Caller/Listener]

Hey, Alison. I was 6 at the time. But more relevant, my father was a young journalist in the motorcade in the press bus when When Kennedy was shot. And he had incredible stories about them hearing the shots, seeing the chaos at the front of the motorcade, and then the limousine taking off. And here's all these journalists with the biggest story of their lives, and they've lost the story. It's an epic story about what happened afterwards. But I'll. I'll just cut to the chase and say that by the time that they found out where Kennedy had been had been taken, they'd been separated from the bus. And my father and a couple other journalists ended up in a stolen car, a car that they stole going down the highway in the wrong, wrong direction, down the. In the safety lane on the highway, trying to get themselves to Park Lane Memorial and getting back to the story that they were trying to cover.

[Alison Stewart]

Wow. Josh, do you mind if I ask your dad's name? Are you comfortable sharing it?

[Caller/Listener]

Sure. My dad went on to have a big career at the Washington Post as a columnist. David Roeder, at that point, he was a reporter for the Washington Evening Star.

[Alison Stewart]

Yes, your father did have a tremendous career. Josh, thank you so much for calling in and sharing that. Really appreciate it. One of the journalists in your film, Ella, we meet is Peggy Simpson.

[Ella Wright]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

A woman. A young woman journalist at the time. Tell us a little more about Peggy Simpson and what she was doing that day.

[Ella Wright]

So Peggy was one of the only female journalists from the AP at the third floor of the police department. So she was in town covering an event, and she actually ended up witnessing the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. So she was down in the police department basement as he was being transferred. And then she sort of watched that all unfold right in front of her.

[Alison Stewart]

We have a clip from the film JFK One Day in America. This is Peggy Simpson and then a local reporter describing the aftermath and asking a very important question that day. Take a listen to this clip. I was on the phone with my bureau chief and I heard the cops say, this is Jack Ruby. And I said, this is. They say the cops know this guy. They say it's Jack Ruby. And he said, what? You know, I drink in his bar. How could that be? He was a known person. He wasn't somebody that they expected it do any harm.

[Caller/Listener]

I understand that he was here passing out cards yesterday to members of the.

[Alison Stewart]

Press, offering them to come by and.

[Caller/Listener]

Get free drinks at his clubs. That's what I understand. Well, how does he have access to the police department? Nightclub owner in Dallas. How does he. I saw him walking around downstairs. How does he do this? Do you have A lot of friends in the. Well, I would think so. I don't. Oh, no.

[Alison Stewart]

That was fascinating. How does events change the way the media covers tragedies?

[Ella Wright]

So I think, you know, the assassination of JFK was really the sort of first rolling news event. Sort of, you know, all the cameras were there to sort of capture JFK and Jackie, and really sort of every twist and turn of the story was captured on camera, which was extraordinary for us because it meant we had this incredible wealth of material to work with.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's talk to Mary calling in from Pompton Plains, New Jersey. Hi, Mary, thanks for calling. Olivet.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi, it's good to hear your voice. I was 16, in England from weekend walking down the street with a friend, and we got the news that he died. I come from an Irish family, and when I turned around and went home, it was like a member of the family died. It was the most devastating die I've ever seen. A group of people, and how it affected the Irish community enormously. He was so loved and respected.

[Ella Wright]

I mean, I could cry right now.

[Caller/Listener]

Feeling what happened and the effect that it had on my family and everybody else I knew.

[Alison Stewart]

Mary, thank you so much for calling in. I do want to go to John from Yonkers, who had a different experience. John, thank you for calling in and sharing your experience.

[Caller/Listener]

Hey, Allison. I was in a Spanish class. I was a junior in high school in Algiers, the. In New Orleans. It's across the river from downtown New Orleans. And. And my friend. It was a lunch time, and my friend Sterling Gross came running down the hallway, burst into the back of this class, and he yelled, they shot. They shot Jack, John. They shot Jack. And when he said that, three, two or three guys in the back of the class stood up and yelled, and they were excited about it. It was a little bit like, if you can imagine the situation in the present political thing now of let's go, Biden. There was so much animosity towards JFK in New Orleans because. Mostly because of the integration situation that was going on down there. But we played. I played. I was on the basketball team, and we played Holy Cross, a Catholic school, that night over across the river in New Orleans. Orleans in the Ninth Ward. And I couldn't believe really, that we were playing a basketball game that night. It wasn't. It wasn't canceled, particularly with a Catholic school. So that was it. It was just this very, very crazy situation of something as horrific as that. And yet some people, they weren't troubled by it at all. I think history. History needs to Record that, John.

[Alison Stewart]

Yes. I really appreciate you calling in with that. Thank you so much. That was interesting. In the documentary, the idea that Kennedy had gone to Texas because he'd barely won it and he did not. There were people at Dealey Plaza with anti Kennedy signs, correct?

[Ella Wright]

Yeah, exactly. I think Texas, it was a sort of hostile state for Kennedy. And just before the assassination, there had been some sort of protest against Adlai Stevenson, the ambassador who'd been down there. So he did know that there was, you know, there was risk of a disturbance. And I think. I think Clint and Paul kind of allude to that. But, yeah, no one could have imagined the extent of what happened. And actually, they'd had a really warm. They. They were surprised, I think, by the sort of the warmth of the reception they received. You see those crowds at Love Field. And I think Sid talks about, you know, that. That warm welcome that they had, and particularly because Jackie was there, which was, you know, sort of. It was. She rarely got involved in politics and political campaigning, so that was a real draw for people. So, yeah, it's sort of even more shocking and surprising what happened next.

[Alison Stewart]

We got a text from someone who says they're concerned that colorization robs the photos and the footage of their shocking impact. How would you address that issue?

[Ella Wright]

I mean, obviously, you know, we wanted to be as accurate and as sensitive as possible. And as I say, we worked with these specialists in France who sort of match properly color match the colorization. And we worked with the 6th Floor Museum who feel very strongly about this. So, you know, obviously people might be divided over the issue of colorization, but I think, you know, we wanted to be as sort of technically accurate as possible, and we took advice from all the right people.

[Alison Stewart]

This text says, I was a young boy living in Washington, D.C. at the time. My friends and I got on our bikes to look for the killer, not knowing it had happened in Texas. JFK was our hero savior for us. Ella, is there anything else you'd want people to know about the docu series or the making of it before they watch it that you think is important?

[Ella Wright]

You know, I guess one of the interesting things about it was just that, you know, we felt like this was an opportunity really to capture that testimony for. For the last time. I mean, a lot of these people, you know, were very aware that this might be the last time that they. They told their story. So I think that that was something that we felt was really important, that we were capturing their. Their testimony and. And their stories for the historical record. And I really makes the series and sort of makes the series so unique. It's their incredible contribution and reflections on this period of history.

[Alison Stewart]

The Nat Geo series is called One Day in America. I have been speaking with its director, Ella Wright. Ella, thank you for your time today.

[Ella Wright]

Thank you so much.

[Alison Stewart]

And thank you to everyone who texted and called in with your remembrances.

[Ella Wright]

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[Caller/Listener]

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[Alison Stewart]

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[Caller/Listener]

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