Interactive photo exhibition follows celebrated reporters on assignment during Kennedy assassination

The Sixth Floor Museum is dedicated to preserving the history of events surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which would not be possible to understand without the news reporting on November 22, 1963. What started as a routine assignment for Dallas Times Herald journalists and photographers that day would later be known as one of the biggest stories of their careers and a defining moment in modern American history.”

Nicola Longford, CEO, The Sixth Floor Museum

DALLAS — On April 29, 2026, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza will present a special exhibition that traces the experiences of four Dallas Times Herald reporters and two photographers on the weekend of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, featuring recently acquired and never-before-seen images and objects. The exhibit will offer visitors a unique and interactive perspective on the historic event. “On Assignment: Dallas Times Herald 1963” follows Dallas Times Herald journalists Keith Shelton, Darwin Payne, Vivian Castleberry and Jim Lehrer, and photojournalists Eamon Kennedy and Bob Jackson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for capturing the moment of the murder of alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. While tracing the professional reporting on one of the most significant news stories of the 20th century, the exhibit also provides rare insight into the personal accounts as they witnessed history, drawn from the Museum’s Oral History Project.

 Spanning events on Nov. 22, 1963, and beyond, the exhibition guides viewers through seven key locations: Dallas Love Field Airport, where President Kennedy arrived in Dallas; the motorcade; Dealey Plaza and the Texas School Book Depository building; Dallas Trade Mart where thousands of luncheon guests waited for the president who would never arrive; Parkland Memorial Hospital; Dallas Police headquarters, where Oswald was in custody and shot by Ruby; and the Dallas Times Herald newsroom. The exhibition follows each of the six journalists and photojournalists who were assigned to report that day with stories and photos documenting the events as they developed.

Additionally, visitors will engage with interactive content, including clicking through photographs through an image viewer; following step-by-step accounts of the journalists’ movements through self-guided “press pass” tours; calling the newsroom from a payphone in the field to provide live updates on the story; leafing through a filing cabinet filled with photographs, notes and draft stories; listening to Payne’s recollections of the newsroom through a rotary phone, and more.

“The Sixth Floor Museum is dedicated to preserving the history of events surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which would not be possible to understand without the news reporting on November 22, 1963,” said Museum CEO Nicola Longford. “What started as a routine assignment for Dallas Times Herald journalists and photographers that day would later be known as one of the biggest stories of their careers and a defining moment in modern American history. We are honored to showcase how those ‘On Assignment’ balanced confusion, grief and professionalism amid global tragedy. We are grateful to the many donors, including the journalists represented in this exhibition, who have entrusted the Museum to carry on their legacy.”

“On Assignment” includes several new acquisitions not previously shown at the Museum, including notable selections from Jackson’s recent donations of more than 15,000 images documenting Dallas history from the 1960s to the 1970s, as well as additional images and objects from the Museum’s permanent collection. Highlights include Shelton’s press pass and notebook, Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of the moment of Oswald’s shooting, as well as his Nikon 35mm camera, a centerpiece from the Trade Mart luncheon, emotional accounts and photographs of Dallas citizens hearing the assassination news, and more.

In 1963, Dallas had two newspapers, media partner The Dallas Morning News, and the Dallas Times Herald, an afternoon daily. Meet the Dallas Times Herald reporters and photojournalists who recounted the president’s visit to Dallas and the events that followed:

• Keith Shelton joined the staff of the Dallas Times Herald in 1959 and soon became one of its political reporters. For President Kennedy’s trip to Texas, Shelton was assigned to travel with the presidential party across the state, as he’d previously covered the Kennedys in San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth.
• Darwin Payne, a recent graduate and new to the newspaper in 1963, was assigned to the Times Herald rewrite desk, tasked with crafting a story about First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy from notes phoned in by fellow journalists at Dallas Love Field Airport.  
• Women’s news editor Vivian Castleberry was a newsroom trailblazer at the Dallas Times Herald, notably covering significant human-interest stories such as domestic violence and gender-based inequality. On Nov. 22, she was assigned to cover the First Lady’s visit to Dallas.  
• A young journalist, Jim Lehrer, moved to the Dallas Times Herald after spending two years at the rival Dallas Morning News. Lehrer quickly assumed the federal beat, reporting on politics and courts. His assignment on Nov. 22 was to cover President Kennedy’s arrival and the formation of the motorcade.  
• Bob Jackson, a 29-year-old Dallas native and Dallas Times Herald staff photographer since 1960, is celebrated for capturing the Pulitzer Prize-winning moment when Lee Harvey Oswald was murdered on Nov. 24, 1963. On this day, Jackson rode with other photographers in a press vehicle from Love Field to the Dallas Trade Mart, eight cars behind the Kennedy limousine.
• A young photographer from Ireland, Eamon Kennedy, joined the photography staff of the Dallas Times Herald in 1962. He also captured the events on Nov. 22 from Dallas Love Field Airport to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

“On Assignment: Dallas Times Herald 1963” is organized by The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. The exhibition is presented by Frost Bank. Major support is provided by Central Market. Additional support is provided by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or Humanities Texas. Media support provided by The Dallas Morning News. Additional annual support for the Museum is provided by the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture and VisitDallas.  

The exhibition is included with Museum admission.

About the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza:  

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is the only museum dedicated to the history of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a watershed moment that changed the course of American history. Located in the former Texas School Book Depository building in downtown Dallas, the Museum provides unparalleled insight into this generation-defining moment in the very place where the sniper’s perch was discovered, providing an authentic, powerful connection to the events of Nov. 22, 1963, and those that surround it.  

Located at 411 Elm Street in downtown Dallas, the Museum is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit jfk.org or call 214-747-6660. Admission — purchased in advance: $24 Adult, $22 Senior, $20 Youth (children aged 5 and under are free). Admission — purchased onsite: $27 Adult, $25 Senior, $23 Youth.