The CHAIRMAN. Any time. Just take your time.
Mrs. OSWALD. My mother died when I was quite young and my father raised
us with housekeepers. My aunt lived in the neighborhood and I had a
lot of cousins and a lot of aunts. My father was French, his name was
Claverie, and my mother was German, the name is Stucke. All of my
father's folks spoke French and my father spoke French to his sisters.
I was a child of one parent, and yet I have had a normal life, a very
hard normal life that I had been able to combat all by myself, sir,
without much help from anyone.
I am saying that in reference to Lee being alone; there have been so
many psychiatrists saying he was by himself and he had a father image
and that is why he did the shooting. There are many, many children with
one parent who are perfectly normal children and I happen to be one
myself.
I had a very happy childhood. I sang. I sang from the kindergarten at
grammar school, and all through grammar school I was the lead singer.
I was one of the most popular young ladies in the school. I also play
piano by ear. I don't know a note. I used to play the marching school
song for the school children.
At my grammar school graduation I had the honor of wearing a pink dress
instead of a white dress and sang the song "Little Pink Roses." So I
had a very happy childhood and a very full childhood. I played the
piano. We had house parties in those days and a lot of gatherings and
it was everything Marguerite--and I also played a ukulele, so I have a
very full happy childhood.
At the age of 17, I am ahead of my story--I have had 1 year high school
education. I know that on my applications I had that I had completed
high school but that is almost necessary to get a job.
But I had 1 year of high school education is all that I had, sir.
I then went to work at age 17, not quite 17, for one of the biggest
corporation lawyers in New Orleans, La. The name then was DuFour,
Rosen, Wolff, and Kammer. Mr. DuFour died while I was there and Mr.
Kammer, I believe, is still living but they were corporation attorneys
for that firm plus 4 or 5 other attorneys that handled divorce cases
and similar cases and I was receptionist in the outer office.
So, everybody who came into the office had to state their business to
me, because the attorneys were very busy, and if it was a particular
case I had to know who to refer the party to this particular man.
So, naturally, I got a very large education, let's say, by doing
this, and the mayor and everybody in the town, these are the largest
attorneys, corporation attorneys in New Orleans, sir, and they were
attorneys representing the New Orleans Public Service and big things
of that sort, and the mayor and all used to call me the boss. When the
mayor came in he had an appointment but I still had to ring the phone
to see if the men were ready to see him. So they called me the boss.
I was also a maid in one of the carnival balls. I am a very poor young
lady but a very, let's say, popular young lady.
My early childhood. We lived on the Phillips Street in New Orleans
which was a very poor neighborhood. My father was one of the very first
streetcar conductors and stayed on the very same line all these years
until he retired and they gave him a citation because he was on the
same line all those years from retirement, and we lived in a mixed
neighborhood of Negroes and white, and my childhood I played with
Negroes, sir, right next door to me was a lovely family that I grew up
with this Negro family.
I married Mr. Edward John Pic, Jr., while working at the law firm. I
was married to Mr. Pic two and a half years when I became with child,
and he did not want any children. His family and my family tried to
talk to him, and, well, his family almost beat him up to say, but
nobody could do anything with him.
So, at 3 months I left Mr. Pic. Mr. Pic did not divorce me, and you
have the records there of me divorcing Mr. Pic, contrary to all other
stories, sir.
This child, John Edward Pic then I bore alone, without a husband. I
was 3 months pregnant. I had 6 more months to go, and I had this child
without a husband.
So, I have had two children without a husband present, Lee and the
first child.
Mr. Oswald was an insurance agent, and he used to collect insurance at
my sister's house, and the day that I left Mr. Pic he helped move my
furniture, the things that I was going to take.