Visit the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas
Where were you when you learned that President John F Kennedy was assassinated? If you’re like me, I wasn’t born for another 17 years, so I learned about the event in history classes and watched movies about the assassination and the conspiracy theories. But to visit the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas brought the event into perspective in how the assassination played out.
Regardless of where you sit regarding the conspiracy theories, I recommend walking the sixth floor where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots that killed President Kennedy.
Here’s a rundown of what to expect as you visit the Sixth Floor Museum and Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas.
Tickets and Directions to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
As you plan your visit to the Sixth Floor Museum, you’ll need to purchase your timed tickets online in advance of your visit. You can select the time you want to arrive, which is helpful in planning your itinerary – at least it is for me. Time slots begin at 10-10:30 a.m. and go until 3:30-4 p.m.
Print out the PDF of your tickets and store it on your phone. Having those available will speed up the check in process when you arrive.
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The Sixth Floor Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but it’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. They recommend allocating 90 minutes for your visit, which I think is about right. I believe I was inside the museum for about 60-70 minutes, and then spent 20 minutes exploring Dealey Plaza.
The museum is located at 411 Elm Street in Dallas. I had an UBER drop me off at the museum, which was super convenient. If you have your own vehicle, they do have a paid parking lot next to the museum.
The entrance to the museum is located on the west side of the building, right next to the parking lot.
Exhibits on the Sixth Floor
Check in at the front desk and take the elevator up to the sixth floor. The tours are self guided, which gives you the time and space to read and learn at your own speed. The information is organized in chronological order, so it’s pretty easy to follow and helps not only setup the events leading up to that day, but the aftermath and investigations.
Here’s a rundown on what you’ll find as you work your way around the sixth floor.
Leading up to the Fateful Day
John F Kennedy was elected president in 1960, taking office in January 1961. There were several issues facing the country in the early 60s – the Cold War, the Vietnam War and race riots. There was a lot happening when JFK took office.
During JKF’s first 100 days, he ordered the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. He was also president when the first human flew in space – Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. In Sept. 1962, President Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University in Texas that has one of my favorite lines for so many reasons:
“We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon… We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
President John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962
His words would set the agenda for America to eventually win the space race. Sadly, President Kennedy wouldn’t be alive to see Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.
November 22, 1963
In late November 1963, President Kennedy headed to Texas to visit five different cities in two days. As you make your way through the Sixth Floor Museum, you’ll see footage of crowds showing up in force to stand along the motorcade route to cheer on the 35th president of the United States. His tour included San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth, before heading to Dallas.
In the southeast corner of the sixth floor, you’ll see some boxes stacked near a window. It’s behind those boxes that Lee Harvey Oswald concealed himself, along with a rifle, to be in position to assassinate the president as he drove by. Use the touch screens by the south windows to see an animation of how the motorcade passed by on the streets below and when the shots were fired.
Read about the chaos of that day and listen to the radio announcements and TV footage of the announcement that President Kennedy had been killed. You’ll learn about the timeline of the fateful day and how the shooter was captured. Roughly 1.5 hours after President Kennedy was pronounced dead, Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy’s vice president, was sworn in as America’s 36th president.
The Days After the Assassination
After reading about the assassination and capture of Lee Harvey Oswald, the story continues. Read about and see historic footage of Oswald in custody. You can also watch the footage that millions of Americans were watching two days after the assassination. As Oswald was being transferred from the city jail to the county jail, Jack Ruby walked right up to him and shot him point blank.
Two hours later, Oswald was pronounced dead. Now Jack Ruby was in custody. And on Nov. 25, President Kennedy was laid to rest in Arlington Cemetery in Virginia.
The Warren Commission and Beyond
As you continue reading the displays, watching the historic videos and looking at the artifacts, you’ll start to see some of the conspiracy theories emerging. Learn about the findings of the Warren Commission – a group of investigators that looked into the assassination. In September 1964 – less than one year later – the Warren Commission presented an 889-page report on their findings.
However, there have been a lot of questions raised over the final report, which identified Oswald as the lone assassin of President Kennedy. In the mid-1970s, another group was organized to further investigate the assassination. Watch some of the footage from the House Select Committee on Assassinations and some of the video footage from that fateful day in Dealey Plaza that was used to piece things together.
In President Kennedy’s inaugural speech in January 1961, he stated…
All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days, nor in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this administration. Nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
Read about the impact President Kennedy had on getting the ball rolling on various efforts, including the agenda to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth.
Special Exhibit: Solidarity Now!
After exploring the sixth floor of the Sixth Floor Museum, take the stairs (or elevator) up to the seventh floor for a special exhibit. The current exhibit is Solidarity Now! about the Poor People’s campaign from the late 1960s. The exhibit will be on display until February 2023.
Learn about this large, grassroots effort during the Civil Rights movement to bring attention to the poverty level of America. See photos of Resurrection City – an encampment of sorts setup on the National Mall (between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument) in Washington, D.C. The campaign was the first large-scale demonstration after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death.
I wasn’t familiar with this at all, so it was fascinating to read about the grassroots effort to bring awareness to a very real problem.
Once you’ve finished exploring the seventh floor, take the elevator down to the main floor. Here’s where you can check out the gift shop to grab a souvenir or book about the events of Nov. 22, 1963.
Explore Dealey Plaza
Just south of the Sixth Floor Museum is Dealey Plaza. Elm Street is the road President Kennedy’s motorcade was traveling on when the shots rang out. In fact, you’ll notice three Xs on the road, marking the spot where the car was when Kennedy was hit. This is an active road, so please don’t get hit by a car trying to stand on the spot or capture a photo of the Xs.
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Dealey Plaza is a great place to relax and take in the events that happened all those years ago. It’s interesting to walk through the areas that you just learned about at the Sixth Floor Museum.
BONUS: A couple of blocks east of Dealey Plaza is the John F Kennedy Memorial Plaza.
The Details
Address: 411 Elm St, Dallas, TX 75202
How long to spend: About 1-2 hours
Cost: $18 for adults; $16 for seniors (ages 65+); $14 for youth (6-18); Free for children under six.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Website: https://www.jfk.org/
Phone: (214) 747-6660
DISCLOSURE: I received one complimentary admission ticket to tour the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own.
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