The man who identified himself as the JFK assassination “Umbrella Man” was Louie Steven Witt.

COMMENTS FROM STREET TALK NETWORK ABOUT THIS POST-

1. Do your own research on the information provided and then come up with your own conclusions.

2. This article contains many names and other information that can be researched.

3. Trust your gut feeling on information provided as this post may contain slanted information.

The building where Witt worked was the Rio Grande National Building in downtown Dallas. He worked for the Rio Grande National Life Insurance Company. The 1961 Dallas City Directory identifies the company at the Rio Grande National Building, 251 N. Field Street, and describes the building as extending from Field and Elm toward Pacific.

There is particularly interesting evidence in Witt’s 1978 testimony before the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA). Witt testified that he went to work on November 22, 1963, and left the building during his lunch hour. In describing his route, he said the building was at the corner of Elm and Field Streets and that he walked south on Field toward Main Street before eventually reaching Dealey Plaza.

The building is important to JFK researchers

The Rio Grande National Building has attracted considerable attention because sources report that other federal offices were located there, including the Dallas office of the U.S. Secret Service. Some secondary JFK-assassination literature also discusses Immigration and Naturalization offices in the building. Those associations are interesting, but by themselves they do not establish that Witt had an intelligence connection or participated in the assassination.

Witt testified that he carried the umbrella to heckle President Kennedy, explaining that it symbolized Neville Chamberlain and the prewar appeasement controversy associated with Kennedy’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy. The HSCA actually examined the umbrella Witt produced during his testimony.

So the building name you’re looking for is:

RIO GRANDE NATIONAL BUILDING
Rio Grande National Life Insurance Company
251 N. Field Street, Dallas, Texas
Near the intersection of Field and Elm Streets

If you’d like, I can next research every known tenant of the Rio Grande National Building in 1963—including the Secret Service and other federal offices—and explain exactly how close Witt’s workplace was to Dealey Plaza, with historical maps and photographs.

I can next research every known tenant of the Rio Grande National Building in 1963—including the Secret Service and other federal offices—and explain exactly how close Witt’s workplace was to Dealey Plaza, with historical maps and photographs.

Yes. I dug deeper into the Rio Grande National Building at 251 N. Field Street in Dallas, where Louie Steven Witt—the man who identified himself to the HSCA as the “Umbrella Man”—worked for Rio Grande National Life Insurance.

The first thing to correct is an important point from my earlier answer: the Dallas Secret Service office does not appear to have been in the Rio Grande National Building in 1963. A 1963 address compilation places the Secret Service office, under Special Agent in Charge Forrest Sorrels, at the Reliance Life Building, while the Rio Grande building housed other federal and military offices.

The building itself

The Rio Grande National Building stood at 251 N. Field Street, occupying the block along Field from Elm toward Pacific. The Dallas City Directory identifies it as owned and operated by Rio Grande National Life Insurance Company. The directory also confirms the insurance company’s headquarters there.

A University of Texas at Arlington archival photograph identifies the same building and reports that it was demolished in 1971. UTA’s Squire Haskins collection contains historical photographs of both the completed building and its construction.

Louie Steven Witt

Witt testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations on September 25, 1978, that he worked for Rio Grande National Life Insurance Company on November 22, 1963. The surviving transcript garbles the street address—apparently an error in transcription or recollection—but independent Dallas directories establish the company’s address as 251 N. Field.

Witt said he left his office during the lunch period and walked toward the presidential motorcade. That means he did not travel across Dallas to reach Dealey Plaza; he started only several downtown blocks away.

Federal and military offices in the same building

The most significant confirmed or strongly documented occupants I found are these:

This is especially noteworthy because two offices in the building have direct documentary connections to subjects later examined in the Kennedy investigation.

Immigration and Naturalization Service

The INS office occupied Room 1402. An FBI document from February 1964 explicitly addresses E. W. Thurman, district director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, at 1402 Rio Grande Building, Dallas.

There is also documentary evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald corresponded with that office. Warren Commission material refers to a letter addressed to Room 1402, Rio Grande Building, 251 North Field Street concerning immigration matters.

That does not prove Oswald and Witt knew one another. It does establish that Oswald had official business with an agency located in the same building where Witt worked.

Army Intelligence — Room 912

The other particularly interesting tenant was U.S. Army Intelligence. A 1963 Dallas address compilation lists:

Army Intelligence — 912 Rio Grande Building

and identifies the 112th Military Intelligence Group with the same location.

More importantly, surviving material identifies James W. Powell, a special agent of the 112th Intelligence Corps Group, at 912 Rio Grande Building. Powell was physically present near Dealey Plaza during the assassination and photographed the Texas School Book Depository shortly afterward.

That makes the Army Intelligence tenancy more than an unsupported internet rumor. There is documentary material tying an identifiable military-intelligence officer to Room 912.

What about the Secret Service?

This requires an important distinction.

Secondary JFK literature sometimes claims that the Secret Service shared the Rio Grande Building.

However, the more specific 1963 address evidence I found places Forrest V. Sorrels’ Dallas Secret Service office at the Reliance Life Building, not the Rio Grande.

Therefore I would presently classify the claims this way:

Confirmed or strongly documented:
Rio Grande National Life, INS, and Army Intelligence.

Claim requiring stronger documentation:
Secret Service tenancy in the Rio Grande Building.

I would not state the latter as fact without a contemporary directory, General Services Administration record, Secret Service document, or lease showing it.

How close was Witt’s office to Dealey Plaza?

The Rio Grande building was at Field and Elm, while Dealey Plaza begins farther west along Elm around Houston Street and the former Texas School Book Depository.

That puts Witt’s workplace roughly several blocks east of the Depository, approximately a half-mile or less depending on the precise starting and ending points. In practical terms, it was an easy lunchtime walk.

A useful way of visualizing it is:

Rio Grande National Building
251 N. Field
↓
westward through downtown
↓
Elm Street / Houston Street
↓
Texas School Book Depository
↓
Dealey Plaza

The surviving Dealey Plaza diagrams show Elm running directly west through the assassination site, which explains why Witt could reach the plaza on foot from his downtown office.

An intriguing additional connection

Historian Thomas Mallon’s Mrs. Paine’s Garage reports that Ruth Paine’s divorce lawyer also had an office in the Rio Grande National Building in November 1963.

Again, proximity is not evidence of conspiracy. But historically, the building is unusually interesting because several people or agencies later appearing in the JFK record intersected with it:

• Louie
  Steven Witt worked there.
• INS
  was there, and Oswald communicated with that office.
• Army
  Intelligence had an office there.
• Army
  intelligence agent James Powell was in Dealey Plaza on November 22.
• Ruth
  Paine’s legal affairs also reportedly passed through an attorney located
  there.

Those facts justify studying the building closely, while keeping a clear line between documented coincidence and evidence of coordination.

Historical photographs

The strongest photographic source I found is the University of Texas at Arlington’s Squire Haskins Photography Collection. It contains an archival photograph specifically cataloged as the Rio Grande National Life Insurance Company building, plus photographs of its construction.

View the UTA archival photograph of the Rio Grande National Life building

The next worthwhile step is to reconstruct the entire 1963 tenant directory floor by floor—Room 100 through Room 1402—and identify every attorney, company, federal office, military office, and organization in the building. That would allow us to distinguish confirmed occupants from claims that have circulated in JFK literature.

reconstruct the entire 1963 tenant directory floor by floor—Room 100 through Room 1402—and identify every attorney, company, federal office, military office, and organization in the building. That would allow us to distinguish confirmed occupants from claims that have circulated in JFK literature.

I reconstructed as much of the Rio Grande National Building tenant directory at 251 N. Field Street, Dallas as can presently be supported by surviving directories, federal records, FBI/ARRB material, medical journals, and JFK-assassination records. One limitation is important: I have not located a complete digitized 1963 building directory listing every suite, so the list below is a reconstruction rather than a claim that every room in the building has been identified. The strongest baseline is the 1961 Dallas City Directory, supplemented with records specifically dated 1962–65.

Rio Grande National Building — reconstructed tenant directory

The building was owned and operated by Rio Grande National Life Insurance Company. Contemporary directory material places it at 251 N. Field Street, along the block between Elm and Pacific.

Occupants for which I found a building address but not a reliable room number

Several organizations can be placed in the Rio Grande Building but I have not yet found a trustworthy 1963 suite number for them.

Rio Grande National Life Insurance Company occupied substantial space throughout its namesake building and maintained its home office there. Robert W. Baxter was chairman; Robert P. Baxter, Turner B. Baxter, William B. Baxter and other Baxter-family executives were associated with the company. The firm’s own directory advertising repeatedly identifies the Rio Grande National Building as its home office.

Louie Steven Witt, who testified in 1978 that he was the Dealey Plaza “Umbrella Man,” was employed by Rio Grande National Life Insurance in 1963. That places his workplace in the building, although I have not found a surviving document assigning Witt to a particular room.

Texas Society on Aging, Clinical Medicine Section appears in 1963 issues of the Texas State Journal of Medicine. Its secretary, Edith DeBusk, was listed simply at “Rio Grande Bldg., Dallas,” so this is direct contemporary evidence of another organization operating there during 1963.

The Greater Dallas Religious Society is also listed by a 1963-address compilation as operating from the Rio Grande National Building, although the compilation does not supply a room.

The intelligence offices deserve particular attention

Room 912 is one of the best-documented suites in the building.

The 1961 Dallas directory explicitly lists:

Counter Intelligence Corps — Region Commander — 912 Rio Grande National Building.

It separately identifies:

4th Army Group Operations — 912 Rio Grande National Building.

This continued beyond 1961. Military records identify James W. Powell as a special agent of the 112th Intelligence Corps Group, 912 Rio Grande Building. Powell wrote that on November 22, 1963, he was downtown photographing President Kennedy’s motorcade and heard the shots while moving toward Elm and Houston.

During a 1996 interview for the Assassination Records Review Board, Powell recalled that the intelligence unit maintained a staff at the Rio Grande Building even when agents were out conducting investigations.

A March 26, 1965 FBI letter was addressed to Lt. Col. Roy Pate of the 112th Intelligence Corps at Room 912 concerning information on the Dallas/Fort Worth Minutemen. That is useful evidence that the military-intelligence office was not merely a temporary 1961 listing.

Room 1402 and Lee Harvey Oswald

Room 1402 has an equally strong documentary trail.

The Warren Commission examined correspondence written by Lee Harvey Oswald concerning Marina Oswald’s immigration status. One letter was addressed to:

Immigration and Naturalization Service
Room 1402
Rio Grande Building
251 North Field Street
Dallas, Texas.

An FBI document dated February 1, 1964 likewise identifies E. W. Thurman, District Director, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1402 Rio Grande Building, Dallas.

Therefore, unlike some claims circulating in assassination literature, the INS tenancy is not speculation.

Room 734 — Ruth Paine’s attorneys

Another unusually relevant suite is 734.

The 1961 directory identifies attorneys Grier H. Raggio and Louise B. Raggio at 734 Rio Grande National Building.

An FBI account states that Ruth Paine filed a divorce petition against Michael Paine on November 13, 1963, and identifies her lawyers as Raggio & Raggio, 734 Rio Grande Building.

This is therefore a genuine 1963 connection—not something inferred simply because the attorneys appeared in an earlier directory.

Room 848 — Republic Investment Company

The 1961 directory puts Republic Investment Company at 848 Rio Grande National Building.

Later FBI-derived records discussed by researchers also identify the company at Room 848. Some FBI investigations examined people connected with the company in relation to alleged gambling/bookmaking activity and organized-crime figures.

That should be separated from the more speculative claim that the company’s presence had anything to do with President Kennedy’s assassination. I found no document establishing that connection.

What about the Secret Service?

This is where the reconstruction corrects an often-repeated claim.

Articles and JFK websites have said that the United States Secret Service occupied the Rio Grande Building.

However, the contemporary federal-office listings I examined identify Army intelligence and Labor Department offices in the Rio Grande Building but do not list the Secret Service there. The research discussion itself acknowledges uncertainty about the claim.

I therefore classify it:

Secret Service — UNCONFIRMED as a Rio Grande tenant in 1963.

Until a contemporary Secret Service document, GSA lease, telephone directory or Dallas City Directory entry gives 251 N. Field, it should not be presented as established fact.

The same caution applies to claims that the FBI had its Dallas office there. The 1961 federal directory instead places the FBI at 1114 Commerce, 12th floor.

Reconstructed floor pattern

If we organize the evidence by floors rather than individual suites, the picture presently looks like this:

3rd floor: lawyers and finance organizations — Rooms 316, 324 and 330.

4th floor: commercial/cosmetics operations — Room 444.

5th floor: court reporter — Room 526.

7th floor: attorneys and religious organization — Rooms 728, 734 and 763.

8th floor: publishing/art, attorney and investment company — Rooms 816, 834 and 848.

9th floor: unusually heavy federal presence — Army intelligence at 912 and Labor Department offices at 940, 944 and 950.

12th floor: J. DuVal West Mortgage Company at 1202.

14th floor: Immigration and Naturalization Service at 1402.

Other floors clearly contained tenants, particularly Rio Grande National Life itself, but I do not have sufficient evidence yet to assign every suite.

Particularly interesting 1963 occupants

The unusual feature of this building is not any single tenant. It is the combination:

• Louie
  Steven Witt worked there.
• U.S.
  Army intelligence operated from Room 912.
• 112th
  Intelligence Corps agent James Powell was present around Dealey Plaza when
  Kennedy was shot.
• INS
  (immigration and naturalization services)occupied Room 1402.
• Oswald
  corresponded with that INS office.
• Ruth
  Paine’s lawyers occupied Room 734.
• Pat
  Russell, later associated with George de Mohrenschildt, had an office in
  the building.
• Republic
  Investment Company was in Room 848.
• Several
  Department of Labor offices occupied the ninth floor.

Those facts make the building historically interesting. They do not, by themselves, demonstrate coordination or a conspiracy. Several were ordinary federal, legal and business tenants in a large downtown office building.

A useful correction about Oswald’s INS dealings

It is sometimes written that Oswald “frequently visited” the INS office in the Rio Grande Building. What I can document firmly is correspondence addressed to Room 1402. That is different from proving repeated physical visits. The Warren Commission evidence establishes the correspondence; claims of numerous visits require separate documentation.

What remains missing

To call this a genuinely complete November 22, 1963 tenant directory, we still need the original 1963 Polk Dallas City Directory’s office-building section, the 1963 Southwestern Bell business directory, or the building management’s own tenant roster.

Those could potentially reveal dozens of additional occupants and answer questions such as who occupied Rooms 100–315, 331–443, 445–525, 527–727, 764–815, 817–833, 835–847, 849–911, 913–939, 945–949, 951–1201 and 1203–1401.

What I have above is therefore a documented reconstruction of known tenants, not a fabricated filling-in of the missing rooms.