An Emotional Visit to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Dallas

For me, the one reason I had for visiting Dallas was to visit the 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. I don ‘t think that there is anyone who was alive on November 22, 1963, who doesn’t remember exactly where he was when he heard the news. A whole nation was stunned. It was as if time stopped as if our innocence was shattered. As far as impact goes it ranks right up there with September 11, 2001. 

In our family, this was a date we could never forget because it was also my fathers birthday. I was in 8th grade in 1963. We were all called back to our homerooms and told that the president had been shot and killed. We were let out of school early and for days just sat home glued to the television.

This museum brought this all back with a vengeance but though I cried several times while going through it was also cathartic, as if finally it could be put to rest. I am so glad that we went even though we all admitted that we left with a very heavy heart.

NO photography is allowed in the museum. You enter through the lobby and take the elevator to the 6th floor. The displays are chronological and include pictures, lots to read and some memorabilia. We start by learning about John F Kennedy, his family, his political life, the campaign and the years of his presidency. We work our way slowly into November 1963. We followed the President and Mrs. Kennedy through the other cities in Texas to that fateful noon in Dallas.

As we work our way to the sixth-floor window where Lee Harvey Oswald had created a barricade, it becomes more and more emotional. I find myself wanting the ending to change. I think everybody there was hoping the same thing.

On the 7th floor, there is an exhibit from the Dallas Police Department detailing the day from their perspective. It was a difficult time, they were prepared for some protesters but no one had any idea that this type of plan was afoot. After shooting President Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald killed a Dallas Police Officer and for a while, no one knew that it was the same man who had committed both crimes. The door that was on the precinct on that particular day is in this exhibit.
Entrance to the museum is $16. There is also a 45-minute audio tour for an additional $4.00.  

There are several other video exhibits that last a few minutes each along the way and then there is a small theater where a 10-minute video entitled “The Nation and World Responds” is shown.

You end your tour by passing through the proverbial gift shop. The museum has it’s own parking lot with paid parking.