George Bannerman Dealy

When we arrived in Dallas to teach for the weekend, one of the places we headed to was Dealey Plaza. Like most people, I knew the name because of what happened there on November 22, 1963, but I had never really thought about the man for whom the plaza was named.

George Bannerman Dealey was born in Manchester, England, in 1859 and came to America with his family as a child. He entered the newspaper business as a teenager and eventually became closely associated with The Dallas Morning News, helping establish the newspaper in Dallas in 1885 and later becoming its president and publisher.

Dealey was also an important civic leader during the years when Dallas was developing into a major American city. He advocated for parks, city planning and improvements to the city. When this plaza was created at the western entrance to downtown Dallas during the 1930s, it was named Dealey Plaza in recognition of his contributions to the community.

Dealey died in 1946, so he had been gone for seventeen years when the plaza bearing his name became the scene of one of the defining moments in American history: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

Today his name is spoken countless times in connection with Kennedy’s assassination, while the story of George Dealey himself is often overlooked. Standing before his statue gave me a chance to separate the man from the event. Dealey Plaza had a name, a purpose and a history long before that November afternoon in 1963 and this is the man behind that name.