Dr. John H. Gordon

 John H. “Jack” Gordon was born and raised in Albany, N.Y. He graduated from Hamilton College in upstate New York with a degree in American History. Dr. Gordon came to Indiana University in 1972 and by 1978 had completed his Masters and Doctoral studies in the School of Education. His Minor Field of Study was American History. During his graduate school years at I.U., he began to research U.S. political assassinations, and, in particular, the assassinations of the two Kennedys and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Between 1979 and 1983 Dr. Gordon taught 3 different classes on political assassinations at Western New England College and Holyoke Community College. During that period he created a chronological film record of President Kennedy’s assassination with enhancements and photo optics provided by Robert Groden.

In the summer of 1983, he was a consultant to NBC and British Central TV for the mini-series Kennedy starring Martin Sheen. During that same year Dr. Gordon worked with ABC’s 20/20 on a proposed program that would raise the issues surrounding new evidence of a second gun in the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. After 3 months of research and full support from the producers of 20/20, an ABC Vice President turned down the project because of political reasons. The same team from 20/20 later resigned from ABC after the network refused to air a scheduled show on the Kennedys and Marilyn Monroe.

In the spring of 1986, Dr. Gordon was appointed by Mayor Thomas Bradley of Los Angeles as one of 12 people on a special committee that was charged with the responsibility to select a repository for the Los Angeles Police Department records on the assassination of Senator Kennedy. In the fall of 1986, the committee recommended that the records be permanently housed within the California State Archives in Sacramento and that a 4 person advisory committee be appointed to the State by Mayor Bradley. Dr. Gordon was then appointed to the advisory committee which issued its recommendations to the State. The files on Senator Kennedy’s assassination were finally released to the public for the first time on April 19, 1988. Later that year Dr. Gordon consulted with PBS and NOVA on a scientific program related to the assassination of President Kennedy.

Dr. Gordon has lectured on the two Kennedy assassinations for over 35 years to students at more than 100 campuses in 44 states.