Primary archival records
Use the U.S. National Archives JFK collection for released government documents, agency records, investigative material and later disclosure records.
Research methods · archives · provenance
JFK Assassination Research Guide and Sources
Use this guide to move from the structured chronology to primary documents, official investigations and archival collections, while distinguishing established evidence from allegation and later interpretation.
Research guide
How to use the JFK assassination archive and its sources
The archive combines structured historical records with explanatory material. For contested evidence or formal research, use the archive to locate the relevant person, event, date or place, then compare the entry with primary documents and published official investigations.
Warren Commission
Use the Commission report, hearings and exhibits to examine the evidence and reasoning behind the 1964 conclusions concerning Oswald, Ruby and possible conspiracy.
Later congressional review
Use the House Select Committee on Assassinations material to compare the later congressional reassessment of the assassination, agency performance and disputed evidence.
Presidential records and photographs
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library provides photographs, historical background and presidential material useful for the Texas trip and Kennedy administration context.
Distinguish evidence from allegation
Witness recollections, official findings, later interpretations and conspiracy allegations are not equivalent forms of evidence. The site identifies these distinctions where possible.
Record-level citations
The next major archive enhancement is record-level source attribution so individual chronology entries can point directly to supporting reports, testimony, exhibits or archival documents.
Research note: the searchable chronology is an index for historical research rather than a substitute for primary-source verification.
Where a claim is disputed, compare the stored record against the linked official and archival collections.
Editorial provenance
Sources and editorial review
Compiled and edited by Kennedy Assassination History.
The explanatory text supplies historical context for 1,932 structured records. The archive chronology retains the site's stored dates, people, events, places and descriptions.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
Official collections