Mrs. SMITH. I don't know how this fight started, I really don't. Like I
say, I saw a group of people standing around, and when I went to see,
they were fighting, but I really----
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you talked to Voebel at all about this?
Mrs. SMITH. No, sir; I haven't seen him--gee, I guess since I graduated
from Beauregard.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now where is Beauregard Junior High School located?
Mrs. SMITH. On Canal Street, but I don't know the address. It is near
the end of the streetcar line, near the cemeteries, across the street
from St. Anthony's Church.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is it near the downtown section of Canal Street, or is it
out farther?
Mrs. SMITH. No; well, it is further down.
Mr. LIEBELER. Approximately how far would it be from where we are now?
Mrs. SMITH. Oh, it is all the way down at the other end of Canal
Street. I mean, you know how it is? The river is down here
[indicating]. Well, it is on the other side of town.
Mr. LIEBELER. Quite a way from here?
Mrs. SMITH. Oh, yes, sir. I mean, you take the streetcar and you ride
practically to the end of the line.
Mr. LIEBELER. Before you got to Beauregard?
Mrs. SMITH. It is about three blocks from the end of the line, the end
of the streetcar line.
Mr. LIEBELER. So it would be several miles from here, would it not?
Mrs. SMITH. Yes, sir; I guess--let's see--it must be about the 4000 or
6000 block, something like that, of Canal Street.
Mr. LIEBELER. In the 6000 block?
Mrs. SMITH. I think so. I am not sure.
Mr. LIEBELER. This is Beauregard we are talking about?
Mrs. SMITH. Beauregard; yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Can you tell me the area the people that went to
Beauregard Junior High School came from? Was it just the area
surrounding the school, or did they come from all parts of New Orleans,
or just how did they decide who was to go to that high school?
Mrs. SMITH. Each high school has its own district, so that the people
that lived in Lakeview went to Beauregard. If you lived in Gentilly,
you couldn't go to Beauregard unless you got a permit from the school
board.
Mr. LIEBELER. What kind of neighborhood was it? What kind of a district
was it that Beauregard drew its students from back in 1954, and 1955?
Mrs. SMITH. Well, it's a nice neighborhood, it still is today.
Mr. LIEBELER. Has it changed much since then?
Mrs. SMITH. No; I don't think so.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you say that it draws from an upper-middle class or
middle-class neighborhood?
Mrs. SMITH. Middle-class neighborhood.
Mr. LIEBELER. You don't have any idea where Lee Oswald lived during the
time that he went to Beauregard, do you?
Mrs. SMITH. No; sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever know that he lived in Exchange Alley?
Mrs. SMITH. No, sir; not until I seen it in the paper.
Mr. LIEBELER. Off the record a minute.
(Discussion off the record)
Mr. LIEBELER. You said that after you graduated from Beauregard Junior
High School you went to Warren Easton High School? Is that correct?
Mrs. SMITH. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now does Warren Easton High School also draw from a
particular district, or is that operated on a different principle than
Beauregard?
Mrs. SMITH. That draws from a district too.
Mr. LIEBELER. And that district included the district encompassed by
Beauregard Junior High School?
Mrs. SMITH. Yes; and also, well, around Easton.
Mr. LIEBELER. It includes other districts aside from the Beauregard
Junior High School District, does it not?
Mrs. SMITH. Well, all the kids that went to Beauregard automatically
went to Easton, of course, unless they moved out of the district, but
it drew kids that lived around Easton too. I mean the district widened,
it got larger like from Beauregard to Easton, you know.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you know that Lee Oswald attended Warren Easton High
School?
Mrs. SMITH. I can remember seeing him there. My girl friends didn't,
but I remembered seeing him, you know, walking down the hall or walking
outside of school.
Mr. LIEBELER. But nothing else?
Mrs. SMITH. But as far as recalling anything about him at Warren Easton
other than that, I don't.
Mr. LIEBELER. There wasn't any event that he was involved in that
stands out in your mind?
Mrs. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember when you saw Lee Oswald at Warren Easton?
Was it immediately after you started Warren Easton after graduating
from Beauregard Junior High School?
Mrs. SMITH. Yes; it was right after we had started at Warren Easton.
Mr. LIEBELER. You yourself did graduate from Warren Easton, did you not?
Mrs. SMITH. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. You actually attended Warren Easton for three years? Is
that right?
Mrs. SMITH. Yes, sir; I did.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember seeing Lee Oswald over a long period of
time at Warren Easton, or was it just for a part?
Mrs. SMITH. No; just--I may have just seen him once or twice at the
beginning of the school year.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did Warren Easton students come from pretty much the
same kind of family background or the same kind of economic and social
background as the people who went to Beauregard Junior High School?
Mrs. SMITH. I think so, but there were a few kids--well, boys--that
were----
Mr. LIEBELER. Of a somewhat rougher nature, shall we say?
Mrs. SMITH. Yes; I wouldn't want to say hoodlums, but they were, you
know.
Mr. LIEBELER. There were people from a different class or different
group of society?
Mrs. SMITH. There were rumors that some of them took dope. Of course, I
don't know how true it is, but that is what they say.
Mr. LIEBELER. You never had any knowledge of anything like that or
heard any rumors about that at Beauregard, did you?
Mrs. SMITH. No; I never have.
Mr. LIEBELER. If you can think of anything else about Lee Oswald that I
haven't asked you about, we would appreciate it very much if you would
set it forth on the record now. Can you think of anything else that we
haven't covered?
Mrs. SMITH. There isn't anything else I can think of.
Mr. LIEBELER. I have no other questions at this point. I do want to
thank you for coming down and cooperating with us to the extent that
you have, and, on behalf of the Commission I want to thank you very
much.