Saturday, January 28, 2012

Texas approves state marker where Tippit died


                                   





DALLAS - An important spot in Dallas, long neglected in the story of the Kennedy assassination, will finally get a historical marker.

On Friday, the Texas Historical Commission approved a marker for the location where Lee Harvey Oswald killed Officer J.D.Tippit.

As work on the Adamson High School campus expansion continues, the effort to secure a historical marker for the nearby intersection of 10th and Patton comes to an end.

"Well this particular marker, unlike so many that we do from the 1800's, has a real connection to lot of people who are old enough to have been there or have seen this on TV that day, and make a connection of how old they were and where they were," said Bob Brinkman, the marker coordinator for the historical commission.

The commission approved a marker to remember the spot on 10th Street where Oswald shot Officer Tippit in the line of duty in the hour after President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

While there have been state markers on other prominent Kennedy assassination locations, such as the old school book depository and City Hall, there's never been one for where Tippit died.

The Old Oak Cliff Conservation League (OOCCL) applied for the marker.

"The events of that day aren't just in Dealey Plaza, they're at Oswald's rooming house, they're at 10th and Patton and the Texas Theatre," said Michael Amonett of the OOCCL. "So a lot of places were in play that day."

The Dallas school district agreed to put the marker on Adamson property at the corner, where it'll stand in a small plaza. Assassination expert Farris Rookstool did the research and the Texas Historical Foundation will cover the cost.

The groups took action after a WFAA story on Nov. 22, 2010, pointed out that there is nothing officially to remember Tippit at the spot where he died.

The marker should be ready for dedication on Nov. 22 - the 49th anniversary of Tippit's death.

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