Finding aid of the Richard M. Mosk Warren Commission papers 6120
Jimmy Zavala
USC Libraries Special Collections
2016
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-0189
specol@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Richard M. Mosk Warren Commission papers
creator:
Mosk, Richard M.
Identifier/Call Number: 6120
Physical Description:
9 Linear Feet
9 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1963-2015
Abstract: Richard M. Mosk was a California Court of Appeal Justice who over more than three decades of public service investigated the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy, chaired the Motion Picture Classification and Rating Administration that provides
the parental ratings for motion pictures, and sat on the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal at The Hague, where he served as a judge
from 1981 to 1984 and 1997 to 2001. The Warren Commission was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 29, 1963
and was chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Mosk's papers
consist of correspondence between members of the staff, both personal and professional, clippings, audio and video documentaries,
copies of reports, interviews and speeches all related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Biographical / Historical
Richard M. Mosk (1939-2016) was an associate justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division
Five since 2001 when he was appointed by Gray Davis.
Mosk was born in Los Angeles in 1939, the son of Stanley Mosk, a former California Attorney General and state Supreme Court
justice. A graduate of both Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Richard Mosk served as a California Supreme Court
law clerk and later was appointed to the staff of the Warren Commission (President's Commission on the Assassination of President
John F. Kennedy) where he was charged with examining the background of Lee Harvey Oswald. From 1981 to 1984, Mosk served as
the U.S. appointed judge on the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, which was established as part of the settlement of the
Iranian hostage crisis. Subsequently, he served as a substitute judge on that Tribunal from 1984 to 1997. In 1997, he was
reappointed to that Tribunal and served until 2001 when he was appointed to his current position on the California Court of
Appeal.
In 1991, Mosk served as a member of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, also known as the Christopher
Commission. The Commission was formed to investigate the L.A.P.D. shortly after the highly publicized beating of motorist
Rodney King.
Between 1994 and 2000, Mosk served as both Chair and Co-Chair of the Motion Picture Classification and Rating Administration
(of the Motion Picture Association of America) that provides the parental ratings for motion pictures.
Justice Mosk practiced law in Los Angeles, tried both civil and criminal cases, and argued cases before the California and
United States Supreme Courts. He taught law at the University of Southern California Law Center and the T.C. Beirne School
of Law at Queensland University in Australia. In addition, he lectured at many law schools in the United States, Europe, and
Asia.
Historical note
The Warren Commission, chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren, was established on November 29, 1963 and was tasked with investigating
the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. On September 24, 1964, the commission presented its final report, consisting
of 888 pages, to President Johnson. The report concluded that Lee Harvey Oswalt acted alone in the assassination of President
Kennedy. Over the years, the commission's report has proven to be controversial and its findings have been challenged by skeptics
and conspiracy theorists.
Content Description
The Richard M. Mosk papers, 1963-2015, consist of correspondence between members of the Warren Commission staff, both personal
and professional, clippings, audio and video documentaries, copies of reports, interviews and speeches all related to the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence between former members of
the Warren Commisssion, and it includes e-mails, letters, and memorandums of President Kennedy's assassination and the findings
of the Warren Commission. The papers also include reports about Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy, assassination materials disclosure act, and the report of the select committee on assassinations. Mosk's papers also
include clippings, articles, magazines, transcripts of television and radio shows, drafts, and legal documentes pertaining
to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the findings of the Warren Commission Report.
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder# or item name], Richard M. Mosk Warren Commission papers, Collection no. 6120, Special Collections, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Sandra Mosk, June 14, 2016.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Assassination -- Investigation -- United States -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Assassination -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Assassination -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Archival resources
United States -- History -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Books
Clippings
Compact discs
Correspondence
DVDs
Interviews
Interviews (Sound recordings)
Journals (periodicals)
Legal documents
Letters
Magazines (periodicals)
Memorandums
Photographs
Press releases
Reports
Transcripts
Speeches
VHS (TM)
Mosk, Richard M. -- Archives
Griffin, Burt W. -- Archives
Holland, Max -- Archives
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Archives
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination
Oswald, Lee Harvey -- Archives
Slawson, W. David, 1931- -- Archives
United States. Warren Commission -- Archives
Warren, Earl, 1891-1974 -- Archives
Willens, Howard P., 1931- -- Archives
Correspondence
1963-2015
Scope and Contents
E-mails, memorandums, and letters amongst former members of the Warren Commission concerning the assassination of President
John F. Kennedy and the Warren Commission report.
Box 1, Folder 1-4
E-mails
1999-2015
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Box 1, Folder 5-13, Box 2, Folder 1-9
Memorandums
1963-2013
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically
Box 2, Folder 10-18
Letters
1964-2015
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Media and Publicity
1963-2015
Scope and Contents
Audio and video recordings about the assassination and the Warren Commission; magazines; transcripts of television and radio
shows; interviews; photographs; and speeches and addresses about President John F. Kennedy's assassination and the findings
of the Warren Commission Report. Various articles about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, including conspiracy
theories surrounding the assassination and the final findings of the Warren Commission Report. Newspaper and magazine clippings
regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Waren Commission Report. Press statements by the White House announcing
the appointment of a commission to investigate the assassinaiton of President John F. Kennedy. Also, a press statement released
by former members and/or staff of the Warren Commission supporting the disclosure of all information relevant to the assassination
of President John F. Kennedy.
Box 1
Audio recordings
2006-2015
Scope and Contents
Lectures and speeches regarding the asassinaiton of JFK and the Warren Commission.
Box 1
Video documentaries
1988-2013
Scope and Contents
Video documentaries about the JFK assassination.
Box 5, Folder 4
Addresses/Speeches
1966-1992
Box 2, Folder 19-28, Box 3, Folder 1-10
Articles
1967-2014
Scope and Contents
Various articles about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, including conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination
and the final findings of the Warren Commission Report.
Box 3, Folder 11-24
Clippings
1964-2015
Scope and Contents
Newspaper and magazine clippings regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Waren Commission Report.
Box 5, Folder 6
Press Statements
1963-1992
Scope and Contents
Press statements by the White House announcing the appointment of a commission to investigate the assassinaiton of President
John F. Kennedy. Also, a press statement released by former members and/or staff of the Warren Commission supporting the disclosure
of all information relevant to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Box 5, Folder 7-13
Copies of Reports
1964-1998
Scope and Contents
Copies of different reports regarding Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, assassination materials
disclosure act, and the report of the select committee on assassinations.
Legal Documents
1964-1992
Scope and Contents
Includes affidavits, depositions, statements, and testimonies regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Box 5, Folder 16
Statements/Testimonies
1977-1992
Box 5, Folder 17
Joint Resolution 454
March 26, 1992
Box 5, Folder 18-19
Drafts
1967-2013
Scope and Contents
Includes drafts of articles and book proposals concerning the Warren Commission Report and the assassination of President
John F. Kennedy.
Box 5, Folder 20-24
Ephemera
1992-2015
Scope and Contents
Includes program announcements, syllabi, handwritten notes, brochures and other documents regaridng the Warren Commission
and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Box 6
Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar, JFK the book of the film (1992)
Box 6
The New York Times, The Witnesses: The highlights of hearings before the Warren commission on the assassination of President
Kennedy (1964)
Box 6
Javier Ortiz Monasterio, Resumen del Informe de la Comision Warren Sobre el Asesinato del Presidente de los Estados Unidos
de America, John F. Kennedy (1964)
Box 6
Jim Garrison, On the trail of the assassins (1988)
Box 6
Bernard Fensterwald, Jr., Coincidence or Conspiracy? (1977)
Box 6
Phillips-Van Buren, Where were you when President Kennedy was shot? (1993)
Box 6
G. Robert Blakey and Richard N. Billings, Fatal Hour: The Assassination of President Kennedy by Organized Crime (1981)
Box 6
Hugh C. McDonald, Appointment in Dallas: the final solution to the assassination of JFK (1975)
Box 6
Carl Oglesby, The JFK Assassination The facts and the theories (1992)
Box 6
F. Peter Model and Robert J. Groden, JFK: The Case for Conspiracy (1976)
Box 6
Charles Roberts, The Truth About the Assassination (1967)
Box 6
Laura Hlavach and Darwin Payne, Reporting the Kennedy Assassination: Journalists who were there recall their experiences (1996)
Box 6
James P. Hosty, Jr. with Thomas Hosty, Assignment: Oswald (1996)
Box 6
Henry Hurt, Reasonable Doubt: An investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy (1985)
Box 6
William Manchester, The Death of a President (1967)
Box 6
Marc Davis and Jim Matthews, Highlights of the Warren Report: The facts and findings surrounding the assassination of John
F. Kennedy (1964)
Box 6
Jacqueline R. Braitman and Gerald F. Uelmen, Justice Stanley Mosk: a life at the Center of California Politics and Justice
(2013)
Box 6
John Sparrow, After the assassination: a positive appraisal of the Warren Report (1967)
Box 6
Richard Hofstadter, The paranoid style in American politics and other essays (1979)
Box 6
Richard H. Rovere, Inquest: the Warren Commission and the establishment of truth (1966)
Box 6
Larry A. Sneed, No More Silence: an oral history of the assassination of President Kennedy (1998)
Box 6
Howard P. Willens, History will prove us right: inside the Warren Commission Report on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy
(2013)
Box 6
William T. Coleman with Donald T. Bliss, Counsel for the Situation: Shaping the law to realize America's promise (2010)
Box 7
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs, The Assassination Materials Disclosure Act of 1992 (1992)
Box 7
United States. Commission on CIA Activities within the United States., Report to the President by the Commission on CIA Activities
within the United States. (1975)
Box 7
David S. Lifton, Best evidence: disguise and deception in the assassination of John F. Kennedy (1980)
Box 7
Larry J. Sabato, The Kennedy half-century: the Presidency, assassination, and lasting legacy of John F. Kennedy (2013)
Box 7
Jim Garrison, On the trail of the assassins: my investigation and prosecution of the murder of President Kennedy (1988)
Box 7
Mark Lane, Rush to Judgment: a critique of the Warren Commission's inquiry into the murders of President John F. Kennedy,
Officer J. D. Tippitt, and Lee Harvey Oswald with an introduction by Hugh Trevor-Roper (1966)
Box 7
Philip Shenon, A cruel and shocking act: the secret history of the Kennedy assassination (2013)
Box 7
Jim Bishop, The day Kennedy was shot (1968)
Box 7
Jean Davison, Oswald's Game (1983)
Box 7
David W. Belin, November 22, 1963: you are the jury (1973)
Box 7
Norman Mailer, Oswald's Tale: an American mystery (1995)
Box 7
Richard Warren Lewis, The Scavengers and Critics of the Warren Report; the endless paradox. Based on an investigation by Lawrence
Schiler (1967)
Box 7
Clarence M. Kelley, Kelley: the story of an FBI director (1987)
Box 7
Mark Lane, A Citizen's Dissent; Mark Lane Replies (1968)
Box 7
United States. Assassination Records Review Board, Final report of the Assassination Records Review Board (1998)
Box 7
United Press International, Four days: the historical record of the death of President Kennedy (1964)
Box 8
Dan Mishkin, Ernie Colon and Jerzy Drozd, The Warren Commission Report: a graphic investigation into the Kennedy Assassination
(2014)
Box 8
Peter Dale Scott; Paul Hoch; Russell Stetler, The Assassinations: Dallas and beyond a guide to cover-ups and investigations
(1976)
Box 8
United States. Warren Commission, Report of the Warren Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (1964)
Box 8
Gerald L Posner, Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the assassination of JFK (1993)
Box 8
United States. Warren Commission, The Official Warren Commission Report on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy:
with an analysis and commentary by Louis Nizer and a historical afterword by Bruce Catton (1964)
Box 8
United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Assassinations, The Final Assassinations Report: report of the select
committee on assassination U.S. house of representatives (1979)
Box 8
David W Belin, Final Disclosure: the full truth about the assassination of President Kennedy (1988)
Box 8
Vincent Bugliosi, Reclaiming History: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (2007)
Box 8
Vincent Bugliosi, Four Days in November: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (2007)
Box 8
Arlen Specter with Charles Robbins, Passion for Truth: from finding JFK's single bullet to questioning Anita Hill to impeaching
Clinton (2000)
Box 8
Sylvia Meagher, Subject Index to the Warren Report and Hearings & Exhibits (1966)
Box 8
Popular Library, A Concise Compendium of the Warren Commission Report on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy (1964)
Box 8
United States. Warren Commission, The Warren Commission Report: report of the President's Commission on the Assassination
of President John F. Kennedy (1964)
Box 8
United States. Warren Commission, The Warren Report: the official report on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
(1964)
Box 9
Charles A. Crenshaw, M.D. with Jens Hansen and J. Gary Shaw, JFK: Conspiracy of silence (1992)
Box 9
Jim Moore, Conspiracy of One: the definitive book on the Kennedy Assassination (1990)
Box 9
Christopher M Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Sword and the shield: the Mitrokhin archive and the secret history of the KGB
(2001)
Box 9
David E. Scheim, Contract on America: the Mafia murder of President John F. Kennedy (1988)
Box 9
Michael Benson, Who's who in the JFK Assassination: a A-to-Z encyclopedia (1993)
Box 9
Max Holland, After Thirty Years: Making sense of the Assassination (1994)
Box 9
Jim Marrs, Crossfire: the plot that killed Kennedy (1989)
Box 9
Albert H. Newman, The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: the reasons why (1970)
Box 9
Michael L. Kurtz, Crime of the Century: The Kennedy Assassination from a Historian's Perspective (1982)
Box 9
James L. Swanson, End of Days: the assassination of John F. Kennedy (2013)
Box 9
David Flitner Jr., The Politics of Presidential Commissions (1986)
Box 9
Jean Davison, Oswald's Game (1983)
Box 9
Priscilla Johnson McMillan, Marina and Lee (1977)
Box 9
Edward Jay Epstein, Legend: the secret world of Lee Harvey Oswald (1978)
Box 9
Texas Supplemental Report on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Serious Wounding of Governor John B. Connally
Box 9
National Research Council Report of the Committee on Ballistic Acoustics
Box 9
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, Report of the Committee on Governmental Affairs
Box 9
The Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Performance of the Intelligence Agencies, Book V
Box 9
Four Dark Days in History
Box 9
New York University Law Review Symposium on the Warren Commission Report
Box 9
Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations U.S. House of Representatives Ninety-Fifth Congress Second Session Findings
and Recommendations
Box 9
[Various journal issues and article photocopies]
