Dealey Plaza - Historic Ground for Many Reasons
by TERESA WOODARD
WFAA
Posted on March 22,
2013
"It was built on the spot where
John Neely Bryan built a home on or near the land where the museum now stands. It was the city's first home, and historians believe it was constructed in the 1840's. So, it is fitting that his land became the grand entrance to his city in the 1930's.
Yet it isn't
Dealey managed the Dallas Morning News from day one. His editorial influence led the city to adopt the master plan that would turn
And then something happened that made no sense.
On
"I know that he would be heartbroken," said Judith Segura, former Belo archivist. She's spent countless hours studying Dealey and his impact on
She believes if Dealey would've been alive, he would have campaigned to restore
"Everyone just turned away from it," she said. "It was too hard to look at and think about. That led to a turning away from even the focus on this part of downtown in many ways."
"
There was talk of tearing down the building where the shots were fired that killed President John F. Kennedy. This city wanted to forget.
Yet tourists taught us, and continue to teach us, that we can't.
On a recent Thursday afternoon, Deven Coggins was attending a conference of attorneys in
"It's funny. Until you came over and started asking questions, I didn't feel anything," he told News 8. "But since you asked me the questions, and I started thinking about it, I actually started getting goosebumps a little. There's something going on here."
The Texas School Book Depository was not leveled; it eventually became the
"When
"It's great," she said, touching her heart, "just to see green shrubbery in these deep beds. That's going to soften the effect of this stark place."
"In a very real way, the whole world held people of
She believes
"I hope he's happy about what's happening now," she said, smiling at George Bannerman Dealey's statue, keeping watch over downtown
E-mail twoodard@wfaa.com
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