John F. Kennedy Assassination: Lee Harvey Oswald Warren Commission Vertical File

John F. Kennedy Assassination: Lee Harvey Oswald Warren Commission Vertical Files

12,430 pages, in 91 vertical files covering Lee Harvey Oswald, selected from the "Key Persons" File of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, also known as the Warren Commission,.

The documents contained in these files were photocopied by the Commission from the mass of documents that were created or accumulated by the Commission between December 1963 and November 1964, but some are dated earlier. They were divided into four time periods, Pre-Russian, Russian, Post-Russian, and Murder by Ruby, and then categorized into 91 subject folders concerning Lee Harvey Oswald.

Most documents not created by the Commission were created by the FBI. Others documents are from the Department of State, Secret Service, Department of Defense, the CIA, Dallas Police Department, and other government agencies. These files cover all aspects of the background and activities of Lee Harvey Oswald. The documents includes reports, transcripts of testimony, depositions, affidavits and written statements, memorandums concerning the backgrounds of individuals, memos suggesting areas of investigation, administrative papers, letters of notification, transmittals and so forth.

Created by President Lyndon Johnson's Executive Order 11130 on November 29, 1963, The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, commonly called the Warren Commission from the name of its Chairman, Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren, it was given the task of investigating the November 22, 1963 assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, and the subsequent killing of the alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald; to evaluate its findings; and to report its conclusions to the President.

On November 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested by the Dallas Police as a suspect in the murder of Dallas Police Department patrolman J.D. Tippit. Citing evidence provided by Federal, State, and local agencies, the State of Texas arraigned Oswald 12 hours after his arrest, charging him with the murder of both of President Kennedy and Patrolman Tippit.
On November 24, 1963, in the basement of the headquarters of the Dallas Police Department, Oswald was fatally shot by Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner.

The Documents were broken down into the following sections.

Oswald, Lee Harvey:

Pre-Russian Period

1 - Affiliations
2 - Description and Identifications
3 - Education
4 - Employment-Unemployment
5 - Finances
5-1 - Income Tax
6 - Military Service
6-1 - Undesirable Discharge
6-2 - Court Martial
7 - Psychiatric Examinations
8 - Associates and Relatives
9 - Residences


Russian Period

General
1 - Preparation for Trip
2 - Arrival in Russia
3 - Chronology of Activities
4 - Employment
5 - Correspondence with mother, brother, etc.
6 - Marriage
7 - Return to U.S.
7-1 - Preparation
7-2 - Repatriation Loan
7-3 - FBI Interviews
8 - Defection to Russia
9 - Finances
10 - Suicide Attempt


Post-Russian Period

General
1 - Residences
2 - Political Activities Foreign Involvement (black, loose-leaf binder)
2-1 - Communist Party
2-2 - Young Communist League (empty)
2-3 - Fair Play for Cuba Committee
2-4 - Socialist Workers Party
3 - Travel
3-1 - Trip to Mexico
3-2 - Proposed Russian Trip (1963)
4 - Aliases
5 - Employment
Jaggers-Chiles-Stovall, Inc.
Leslie Welding Company
William B. Reilly & Company
Texas School Book Depository, Dallas
Unemployment Compensation (empty)
6 - Finances
7 - Associates and Relatives
8 - Description and Identification

Murder by Ruby
1 - Transfer to County Jail
2 - Murder
3 - Remains
3-1 - Autopsy

Two folders were empty when transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration. The two folders were titled, Post-Russian Period, 2-2 - Young Communist League (empty) and Post-Russian Period, 5 - Employment - Unemployment Compensation.