This session brings together three examinations of Dallas’s past that illuminate how the city has grappled with memory, identity, and urban transformation. Stephen Fagin analyzes Dallas’s fraught response to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, tracing the tension between those who sought public commemoration and civic leaders eager to move beyond the city’s association with the tragedy. His paper follows the wide range of memorial efforts—from eccentric personal tributes to the creation of youth centers, from resistance to a Dealey Plaza memorial to the eventual construction of the minimalist John F. Kennedy Memorial in 1970 and the opening of The Sixth Floor exhibit in 1989. Their work reveals a community negotiating its role in a national trauma and struggling to reconcile public memory with its civic reputation.
Complementing this exploration, Evelyn Montgomery examines how Dallas has attempted to shape its physical and civic landscape over time. Her paper traces the city’s planning history through three major eras: its frontier beginnings under John Neely Bryan, who worked from familiar settlement patterns and optimistic expectations for the Trinity River; the early twentieth-century City Beautiful era, when leaders commissioned George Kessler’s visionary plan but failed to implement it; and the post–World War II period, when rapid suburbanization created new challenges city officials struggled to manage. Taken together, these presentations reveal how Dallas has continually reimagined itself—physically, culturally, and symbolically—across moments of crisis, growth, aspiration, and reinvention.
Finally, David Preziosi will discuss how Braniff Airways not only transformed aviation in Dallas, but across the world as one of the most colorful airlines that ever flew. The history of the airline and how it grew from a small regional carrier to an international airline will be covered. Braniff transformed the airline industry and put Dallas on the aviation map as it set a new benchmark for how an airline should look, with everything from uniforms, planes, and architecture. Their success in the 1960s and 1970s stemmed from an emphasis on design and marketing that set them apart from other airlines. Included in the presentation will be original 1960s Braniff commercials and former Braniff Hostesses, modeling uniforms from the different Braniff collections.
Session Chair: Sarah Crain, Preservation Dallas
