JFK

President John F. Kennedy's assassination is an unforgettable part of Dallas' history.Nearly 54 years later, scholars and enthusiasts alike are still processing details from that fateful drive through Dealey Plaza now that the remaining investigation files have been unsealed. For the 50th anniversary in 2013, KERA produced special stories and reports from the commemoration:The 50th: Remembering John F. Kennedy was KERA's live, two-hour special covering the official commemoration event at Dealey Plaza in Dallas on Nov. 22, 2013. Hosted by Krys Boyd and Shelley Kofler, the special includes reports from KERA reporters before the ceremony begins. Listen to the special here.Bells tolled across the city, and the event featured historian David McCullough, who read from Kennedy’s presidential speeches; Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings; religious leaders; the U.S. Naval Academy Men’s Glee Club; and a moment of silence. Read highlights from the event from KERA's live blog from that day.Throughout the month, KERA posted an online series called 22 Days In November, which takes a closer look at that fateful day, what it meant to the country and how it affected Dallas.We shared stories and memories in a series called “JFK Voices.” Explore our archives below.

JFK Voices: Tragedy, Fiction And The Gap After Kennedy

KERA | By Lyndsay Knecht

Published November 20, 2013 at 10:37 AM CST

It wasn't until 25 years after JFK was killed that Don DeLillo's 'Libra' surfaced.

Walton Muyumba is a professor of English at UNT. He found something telling while discussing literature as a response to terrorism with his students. Though writers processed other horrific events immediately, Muyumba says, much more time passed before there was a novel about JFK's murder. That's not unlike stories and feelings just now emerging from North Texans after 50 years.

Interview highlights

We humans have been terrorizing each other for a long, long time. The way we respond to that terror is just as significant as the events themselves. So when I relayed the story of certain Dallasites who just finally after 50 years were just now able to speak about their terror and their trauma surrounding the JFK assassination they [my students] found it astonishing.

Because in contemporary American life – After the World Trade Center attacks, after the attack on the Pentagon – people started writing novels about the thing immediately. But really, before we got a significant piece of literary art – 25 years passed before Don DeLillo’s Libra.

Even though we had documentaries, we had the Warren report, we’ve had films – including JFK, Oliver Stone’s movie – we in Dallas are just documenting our response to the assassination.