CAPA 2021 Conference Update

CAPA is planning an in-person conference this year, barring any unforeseen events. The two-day conference will be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel, 1015 Elm Street, Dallas 75202 a few short  blocks from Dealey Plaza, on November 20-21. There will be a banquet on Saturday night the 20th. Registration opens July 28th.
Here is what we have confirmed so far:

Since the JFK/Media Panel was so successful last year, we are planning on having it again with some new participants. We are planning to have a half-day on the subject of “The JFK Assassination and the Media,” a topic that has not been discussed and investigated by the mainstream media. Andrew Kreig will chair the panel. Participants in the panel so far will be Dr. Cyril Wecht, Russ Baker, James Wagenvoord, and Jacob Hornberger.

Tink Thompson and Gary Aguilar will speak about Tink’s new book, “Last Second in Dallas.”

Dr. Cyril Wecht will be our keynote speaker – topic to be announced closer to the conference.

James Wagenvoord will speak about his experiences working at Life magazine in 1963. He has much to share since he was at the epicenter of the magazine responsible for much of the news about the assassination. Title of the talk is “My LIFE Story and LIFE’s Life Story.”

Russell Kent, who spoke last year about the House Select Committee on Assassinations Forensic Pathology Panel, will speak about his new book, “JFK: Medical Betrayal.”

Stephen Jaffe is the last living investigator on the staff of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison in the 60’s. Jaffe was also one of the producers of the feature film “Executive Action” in 1973. And, for the first time, for the CAPA audience, Jaffe will show a new documentary that he produced with his late partner, author and attorney, Mark Lane. It’s entitled, “A Rush to Judgment,” after Lane’s best-selling book and includes some rare interviews with witnesses Lane interviewed in 1966. It also includes historic new interviews. Jaffe will also show a brief, almost never seen documentary film about the making of “Executive Action” with interviews of the stars (Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Will Geer, as well as the executive producer Edward Lewis). Jaffe will take questions via Zoom.

David Montague was head of investigations for the United States JFK Assassination Records Review Board and will speak about his time in that position.

Andrew Kiel will speak on J. Edgar Hoover, LBJ, and the Secret Service presenting additional information not included in his previous talk.
 
We will be showing the documentary “Four Who Died” produced by Libby Handros about JFK, RFK, MLK and Malcom X.

We will also have a panel on the history and status of withholding of the JFK assassination records. David Montague will chair the panel; participants so far are Michael Nurko and Jacob Hornberger.

We are again planning a special day for high school, college, and law school students. This will be held online, as it was last year, on Friday, November 19.  We want to get more young people interested in this tragic event that changed the course of our country and hopefully enlist them in our cause. We are planning a program that will give them the opportunity to see what President Kennedy was like as a person and a president and educate them about the truth of the assassination. The event will be free to students attending high schools, universities and law schools. If anyone has suggestions for schools or national organizations you think might be interested, please let me know and I will send out invitations. David Denton, History Professor at Olney Central College and head of the JFK Historical Group, will introduce the program and will be available to answer questions from the students after the program. The conference will last approximately five hours including breaks.

Also, as an added perk for our members, we will be having a mixer, for members only, from 6-7 pm before the banquet on Saturday at which the members will be able to meet and talk with the speakers, including Dr. Wecht. There will be a cash bar available during the mixer. 

The Crown Plaza has reserved a block of rooms for CAPA attendees at the discounted rate of $109/night, plus taxes, for three nights, November 19 through November 21. Here is the link to reserve a room https://book.passkey.com/e/50219664.  You must state that you are with CAPA in order to get the special rate. The cutoff date to reserve a room with the special rate is November 12th. To register for the conference, please go here, Register for 2021 CAPA Conference. The fees for the conference and various options are provided there.

Please note that CAPA is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit Private Foundation, which means that your payment to CAPA is considered a donation and can be deducted as a charitable expense on your income tax return. As you can see on the CAPA website, annual dues to become a member of CAPA can be as little as $50.

CAPA Advocates Disclosure On Political Assassinations

Americans deserve prompt and thorough disclosure of the facts surrounding the nation’s major assassinations, according to a new research group on the occasion of the annual “Sunshine Week,” celebrated by open government advocates beginning March 13.

As an initial goal, Citizens Against Political Assassinations (CAPA), a non-partisan umbrella group, seeks withheld records pertaining to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, both in 1968.

“CAPA seeks release of the remaining JFK records with a minimum of redactions, which can obscure vital information,” said CAPA Chairman Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D., a prominent expert in forensic pathology for five decades. “We shall also file Freedom of Information Act requests and similar legal actions to enforce the law and undertake public education efforts to show the importance of disclosure to new generations.” Wecht is a consultant, medical school professor, author, and former county coroner for two decades in Pennsylvania.
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