Sixth Floor welcomes Wygant to remember

By Laurie Ivy

On Monday, April 22, Texas television legend Bobbie Wygant will be at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza to share insights and memories from her seven-decade career in broadcasting, including her experience broadcasting live on November 22, 1963, as news broke of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The second in a series of media-related public programs, “70 Years of Texas Television: An Evening with Bobbie Wygant” is being presented in conjunction with “55 Years,” a temporary exhibit that showcases how the media portrayed President Kennedy on magazine covers from immediately after his death in 1963 through 2018. 

“This program is a continued exploration of the role the media plays in shaping and shifting public perceptions of American leaders. President Kennedy’s ability to master the emerging media of television in the 1960s influenced the outcome of his election and the way he connected to, and communicated with, the American people,” said Nicola Longford, chief executive officer. “Television was regarded as a relatively new media in the 1960s, yet Bobbie Wygant already had been working as a female broadcaster for more than a decade. Her legendary career spans the entire history of TV.” 

Wygant joined Fort Worth-based WBAP-TV, the first television station west of the Mississippi, in 1948 two weeks before it went on the air. The first female in the southwest to be host/producer of a general-interest television interview program, she interviewed thousands of celebrities from Bette Davis to Charley Pride to Bradley Cooper. Her popular midday program “Dateline” was live on the air when President Kennedy was assassinated.  

Wygant is the author of “Talking to the Stars.” Pre-signed books will be available for purchase at the program. 

 Tickets to “70 Years of Texas Television: An Evening with Bobbie Wygant” are $20 and include a reception, parking and a private viewing of the “55 Years” exhibit. Tickets are available at jfk.org.

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