John Brewer’s
Affidavits and stories
I built a digital home for my good friend Johnny Calvin Brewer’s exceptionally fascinating archives. John helped capture John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
The process of visiting with John in the evenings, at his home, to look through his materials and get his unfiltered stories was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I had been completely intrigued by this event for years prior to meeting John, entirely by coincidence.
The sequence of serendipities and events to allow me to do this project were really something.
If I had to write about it now I’d consider how stories get passed from people to people, and what it means to be at the center of a point of historical change. Had John been even a few minutes away the nation’s story would be very different. Likewise, this event shaped John’s future.
Thank you for your trust John!
Austin. 2008
After John Kennedy was shot in downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963, Johnny Calvin Brewer was listening to the radio while working behind the cash register at Hardy's Shoe Store on West Jefferson Avenue in Oak Cliff. At around 1:15 p.m., the radio broadcaster announced that another gunshot had been fired, this time at Officer Tippit, who had stopped a man who fit the assassin's description on West 10th Street, not far from Hardy's.Minutes later, as cops swarmed the area, a casual shopper entered the shoe store. Brewer observed as Lee Harvey Oswald nervously browsed the selection, seemingly trying to avoid the cops and fade into the background despite the commotion of police cars screaming and people milling around outside.If it weren't for Brewer, then a 22-year-old store clerk, the aftermath of Kennedy's assassination could have played out much differently.
Dallas Observer