October 2017

Once again thanks to Gary Murr I can present another set of drawings of the 1st floor of the Texas School Book Depository.

These are made in March 1964,  the majority of it by SA Eugene Paul Arey, classified by the FBI as a “visual exhibits specialist.”

Gary spends an entire chapter on the FBI model and its construction in the first volume of his Connally trilogy, a chapter titled “Model Behaviour.” “I get the impression, indeed memoranda states as such, that the intent of the model was for the benefit of individuals who were to be called to testify to the WC regarding various aspects of the assassination event, in particular members of the DPD and witnesses/employees of the TSBD. However, I believe the display of the model became too cumbersome and so as a trade off the WC asked the FBI to produce detailed diagrams of the TSBD again for use during testimony sessions, such as Baker and Truly – mark where you were etc. etc. The model was moved to the “exhibits room”,  a singular room in the VFW  Building, access to which was controlled by J. Lee Rankin’s personal secretary, Julia T. Eide. She generated a “log book” in which anyone who visited the room – and she had the only key – had to sign the key in and out, note the times, identify themselves and anyone who was with them, etc. To me it is one of the more important documents that survives and I suspect very few people are aware of it’s existence. Indeed, I argue that a lot of what occurred as far as planning out the eventual SBT and in particular the eventual WC staff reconstruction in Dallas in May of 1964 took place in this room with the model over the weekend of March 14 – 16, 1964. FWIW

Thank you Gary, once again.

And there’s more to come ;)