President Johnson created the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (commonly called the Warren Commission) 7 days after the assassination, and 10 months later, the Commission issued its report. The Collection contains 363 cubic feet of Warren Commission records. These records include transcripts of hearings; administrative and investigative documents created by the Commission's staff; documents sent to the Commission by U.S., State, and foreign government agencies; letters from members of the public; photographs; films; and several three-dimensional objects.

[ Extracted from the History Matters site. ]

HSCA Final Assassinations Report

The Final Report of the House Select Committee on Assassinations presents the HSCA's findings in the murders of both President John F. Kennedy and Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. The HSCA found a "probable conspiracy" in the JFK assassination, but was unable to determine its nature or participants (other than that Oswald was still deemed to have fired all the successful shots). In the King case, the HSCA similarly found that James Earl Ray assassinated Reverend King, but that there might have been a small-scale conspiracy involved.

For many assassination researchers, the HSCA's findings suggested a "limited hangout" of a deeper and more disturbing reality. The release of the HSCA's internal files in the 1990s has certainly provided fodder for this view, including evidence of HSCA cover-ups in the area of the medical evidence and of Oswald's intelligence connections and his mysterious trip to Mexico City.

The HSCA Report presents an overview of the HSCA's work. Many more details are present in the twelve volumes of appendices published in each of the two assassination cases (the JFK volumes are available online here). The voluminous files of the HSCA and the many depositions taken in the investigation are a fertile field for today's researchers.

John F. Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963. Almost 30 years later, hoping to allay lingering doubts about the circumstances surrounding that event, Congress enacted the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act. On October 26, 1992, President George Bush signed the bill into law (PL 102-526). One provision of the law mandated that all assassination-related material be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The clear intent of the law was to open most of the records for research.

A timeline of events should be recalled at this junction. Jim Garrison's book "On the Trail of the Assassins" was published in 1988 and transformed into a feature film in 1991. Less than a year later the above bill was passed.

[ Extracted from NARA site. ]

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent federal agency that preserves our nation's history and defines us as a people by overseeing the management of all federal records.

Enshrined for posterity in the original building in Washington, DC, are the cornerstone documents of our government, the Charters of Freedom: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights.

But the National Archives and Records Administration is more than famous documents. NARA is a public trust upon which our democracy depends. NARA enables people to inspect for themselves the record of what government has done. NARA enables officials and agencies to review their actions and helps citizens hold them accountable for those actions. And NARA ensures continuing access to essential evidence that documents the rights of American citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the national experience.

The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection

In 1992, the National Archives and Records Administration established the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection pursuant to Public Law 102-526. The Collection contains more than 4 1/2 million pages of assassination-related records, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings and artifacts.

You will find the script of JFK in its entirety by following the enclosed hyperlink.

History and the Movies: Conversations with Oliver Stone

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

The Oliver Stone Website

An appreciation of Stone's films, JFK is paid specific attention with several critical essays relating to the film and Garrison's text, links to interviews and historical documents.

Links on Oliver Stone's JFK and the Jim Garrison Case