Today, on the 60th anniversary of the UT Tower shooting, Texas Standard is revisiting our 2016 documentary marking 50 years since the tragedy. Listen to the documentary and look through videos, photographs and an interactive map at towerhistory.org.
Columbine. Sandy Hook. Santa Fe High School. Robb Elementary.
Touchstones for a sense of shared tragedy, school shootings have become part of modern life. But what do we remember of the event that opened this chapter in Texas 60 years ago?
On Aug. 1, 1966, a sniper climbed to the top of the University of Texas Tower, opening fire on an unsuspecting public below.
It was an event no one had any way to make sense of — an event so unthinkable at the time, many of those who lived through it only started to share their stories in recent years.
10 years ago, the Texas Standard team delivered “Out of the Blue,” an documentary on the 50th anniversary of the Tower shooting at the University of Texas at Austin.
Since the program was first broadcast, some of those interviewed in 2016 have passed, but thanks to this landmark work, their recollections are as vivid as ever.
The archives for this program are housed at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.
