Program

Public Programs: America's Historical and Cultural Organizations: Planning Grants

Period of Performance

9/1/2011 - 7/31/2012

Funding Totals

$40,000.00 (approved)
$40,000.00 (awarded)


Shared Stories: Development of Oral History Programming about the Kennedy Assassination

FAIN: GE-50536-11

Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (Dallas, TX 75202-3301)
Sharron Wilkins Conrad (Project Director: January 2011 to November 2012)

Planning of oral history-based theater and digital activities for use at the museum, schools, and community venues about evidentiary characteristics of first-person accounts surrounding the Kennedy assassination and what these can teach us about the nature of historical memory.

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza seeks $40,000 ($104,684 total budget) to support Shared Stories, a museum program planning initiative that is part of a long-term shift to transition from an institution designed for "rememberers" of the Kennedy assassination to a place where future generations can examine the historical facts of the Kennedy assassination as well as the role, process and meaning of history. The Museum will enlist the counsel of an impressive humanities project team that will help guide planning, prototyping and evaluation of these interactive programs based on the Museum's one-of-a-kind Oral History Collection. This collection has been used to bring very personal, emotional memories to Museum audiences in the past, but while audiences have been engaged in listening to these accounts, they have not been invited to examine how these stories affect the way we understand the past and how that process might help us approach present challenges.



Media Coverage

Across the Decades (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Nancy Churnin
Publication: The Dallas Morning News
Date: 5/11/2012
Abstract: An overview of the NEH-funded Shared Stories project.

Shared Stories Premieres on School's Stage (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Kyle Rains
Publication: The Dallas Morning News - Neighbor's Go
Date: 6/15/2012
Abstract: Overview of the Shared Stories project and the performance at Woodrow Wilson High School.

Obama Not the First U.S. President Asked for an Excused Absence (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Bob Ray Sanders
Date: 6/12/2012
Abstract: Editorial about the NEH-funded Shared Stories presentation and its connection to a news story about a Minnesota student who receives an excused absence from school by President Barack Obama.
URL: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/06/12/4027224/obama-not-the-first-us-president.html



Associated Products

Shared Stories: A Pilot Play (Script)
Title: Shared Stories: A Pilot Play
Writer: Linda Daugherty
Director: Nancy Schaeffer
Producer: The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
Abstract: Shared Stories, a play inspired by The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza's oral history collection, follows Angela and D.J. as they investigate a mysterious old document while listening to memories of individuals who lived through the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. In the process of searching for answers, Angela and D.J. fall under the spell of the powerful voices and images from the past, and ultimately, discover the value in every story.
Year: 2012

Shared Stories: A Pilot Play (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Shared Stories: A Pilot Play
Writer: Linda Daugherty
Director: Nancy Schaeffer
Producer: The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
Abstract: A video recording of Shared Stories: A Pilot Play performance at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. The presentation took place on Thursday, May 17, 2012.
Year: 2012
Format: Video