ustxtxb_obs_1966_04_15_50_00009-00000_000.pdf

Well Known to Union Labor .. . Jake Sorrells . . . joins forces with AMERICAN INCOME LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY of Indiana Underwriters of the Union Labor Disability Policy Jake Sorrells still works for the cause of Union Labor with American Income’s Union Labor Disability Policy which is identified by its unique “Arbitration Privilege” and “Authorized Strike” clauses, created especially for men of Union Labor. American Income pridefully acknowledges Jake Sorrells as one of its coast-to-coast representatives before the councils of Union Labor. Executive Offices P. 0. Box 208 Waco, Texas Bernard Rapoport, President tJ Last summer Al Stratton, acting director of the National Park Service, wrote Mrs. Langleyresponding to a letter she had sent the President, which had been referred to Interior that her proposal for a memorial to Kennedy where he fell was not well taken. “At this point in history we feel that emphasis should be placed on scenes associated with the life and objectives of the late John F. Kennedy,” Stratton said, foreclosing, apparently, any federal action to preserve the site, at least at this point in history. Olds, too, in his letter to congressmen, said he had written Interior and had been told that before such a site as the one where Kennedy fell could be set aside, usually at least 50 years has to pass “to permit historical associations of the building to be viewed in perspective.” “But in 50 yearsindeed, probably in five yearsthe building will be gone; the site altered beyond recall,” Olds wrote. “And surely we do not need until the year 2013 to realize the place this event holds in our history. . . . “Another Interior Department letter advises me that ‘memorials to notable men are usually those associated with their burial place and with their life accomplishments.’ Yet Ford’s Theater is being restored for $2.7 million. . . . “I suspect Dallas leaders have in mind the complete physical alteration of the assassination site, using the proposed memorial plaza a block away to represent the city’s feelings,” Olds wrote. Last September A. C. Greene, who was then editor of the editorial page of the Times Herald \(and now writes an occasional column and is the paper’s book edi”One can safely say it has become an international shrine. … The fact that there is no marker of any kind at the site or on Dealey Plaza disturbs the visitors. I had a Korean newsman and one from Trinidad visit me . . . and one of their first questions concerned this lack of even a historical marker of any sort. . . . “The city parks department . . . revealed to the Korean newsman a set of projected drawings for a marker at the sitethis being news to me, I blush to say, working right here in Dallas. But prior inquiries have drawn a reluctance from the parks people to see an actual marker at the precise spot of the assassination because of traffic problems. . . . “The assassination site will continue to be visited by thousands, and they will number among them newspapermen, Fulbright exchange students from lands all over the globe, affluent Europeans, and all classes from everywhere in the United States. “One Mexican family enacted a poignant drama recently which is indicative of what is happening. The father of the large group from Mexico City, looking about for some marker, saw the engraving on the base of the statue of George Bannerman Dealey. Being the only member of the family who handled the English language, he approached it eagerly, figuring it explained the assassination. “When he finished, he stepped back, perplexed. ” ‘Nada,’ he said sorrowfully to the others. ‘Nada es por El Presidente.’ “Nothing. Nothing is for the President.” Letters which the Times Herald ran, responding to this column, were mostly in emphatic agreement with Greene. One said a marker at the site would be a concession to morbid curiosity ; another said one would think that some kind of marker would already be standing. Wrote Mrs. L. H. Boyne, “I am too deeply hurt to complain publicly about this slight to our President, so I am especially appreciative that someone of importance has spoken up about it.” Wrote in Sally Hedrick, “It fills me with shame each time I pass it to see it thus unmarked or honored. To face it with out-oftown guests is especially difficult, as they come filled with ideas of some beautiful memorial here.” JARRED, perhaps by Greene, into action, city parks director L. B. Houston said two weeks later, “The park board has certainly been concerned with the large number of visitors who have difficulty in acquainting themselves with the assassination site.” He said a possible monument there might be a plaque giving details of the assassination and the Warren Commission’s conclusion. A month later Houston was sounding more resolute: “After one year and a half of observing, it became quite obvious that the need for an explanation marker was absolutely essential.” But the wording of the panels would be decided on later. Not until last month did the intention to put city history on the plaques become known. Mrs. Langley has tried to trace out where the idea came from, but to no avail. The idea just appeared in the Dallas News March 6, in a story that said the events recited on the plaques at the assassination site would include the facts that “Dallas served as a supply and recruiting depot for the Confederate Army during the Civil War” and that the Trinity River was first navigated in 1868, along with the dates of the first settlement of Dallas and the city’s incorporation. Mrs. Langley was after this like a shot. In a statement to the press She said it was “very downgrading of a truly important historical event” and suggested the alternative of a sculpture by Lipchitz. “The site is April 15, 1966 9 J C