DALLAS
Oswald did not contact his wife immediately when he returned to Dallas. He went to the office of the employment commission, where he filed an unemployment compensation claim[A13-1207] and announced that he was again looking for work.[A13-1208] He spent the night at the YMCA, where he registered as a serviceman in order to avoid paying the membership fee.[A13-1209] On the following day, he applied for a job as a typesetter trainee at the Padgett Printing Co. He made a favorable impression on the department foreman, but the plant superintendent called Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall and decided not to hire Oswald because of the unfavorable responses which his inquiries produced.[A13-1210] Later that day, Oswald telephoned Marina and asked her to have Mrs. Paine pick him up in Dallas. Marina refused, and he hitchhiked out to the Paine home,[A13-1211] where he spent part or all of the weekend.[A13-1212] Marina testified that although her husband “changed for the better” and treated her better after his Mexican trip,[A13-1213] she did not want to live with him because she was pregnant and thought it would be better “to be with a woman who spoke English and Russian.”[A13-1214] On Monday, October 7, Mrs. Paine drove Oswald to the bus station, and he returned to Dallas to look for a job and a place to live.[A13-1215]
Oswald thought that the YMCA was too expensive for him, and intended to rent a room.[A13-1216] He inquired about a room at 1026 North Beckley, where he lived later, but on October 7 there were no vacancies.[A13-1217] He next responded to a “For Rent” sign at a rooming house at 621 Marsalis Street. He obtained a room, for which he paid the weekly rent of $7 in advance, and moved in on the same day.[A13-1218] He immediately resumed his job-hunting, relying partially on referrals by the employment commission.[A13-1219] He spent much of the time when he was not looking for work in his room.[A13-1220] He telephoned his wife daily.[A13-1221] She wrote: “Lee called twice a day, was worried about my health and about June.”[A13-1222] On Friday, Oswald told his landlady, Mrs. Mary Bledsoe, that he was going to Irving for the weekend but would return the following week. She refused to rent the room to him for another week because she didn’t like him.[A13-1223]
Oswald spent the weekend of October 12-13 at Mrs. Paine’s home, during which time she gave him a driving lesson.[A13-1224] He told her that he had received the last of the unemployment checks due him, and that it had been smaller than the previous ones. Mrs. Paine testified that Oswald was extremely discouraged because his wife was expecting a baby, he had no job prospects in sight, and he no longer had any source of income.[A13-1225]
On Monday, Mrs. Paine drove Oswald into Dallas, since she had other business there.[A13-1226] He picked up his bag from Mrs. Bledsoe’s roominghouse[A13-1227] and later that day rented a room at 1026 North Beckley Avenue from Mrs. A. C. Johnson for $8 a week. He registered as O. H. Lee and moved in immediately.[A13-1228] Oswald felt that this room was more comfortable than the previous one, particularly because he had television and refrigerator privileges.[A13-1229] He apparently continued to spend most of his evenings in his room.[A13-1230] He borrowed books from the library[A13-1231] and had subscriptions to various periodicals, including Time, the Worker, the Militant, and some Russian periodicals.[A13-1232]
On that Monday, Mrs. Paine mentioned the Oswalds’ financial and employment problems to neighbors whom she was visiting. Mrs. Linnie Mae Randle, who was also present, remarked that she thought that her younger brother, Buell Wesley Frazier, who worked at the Texas School Book Depository, had said that there was a job opening there. When Marina heard of this, she asked Mrs. Paine to call the Depository to see if there was an opening.[A13-1233] Mrs. Paine called Roy S. Truly, superintendent of the Depository, who indicated that he would talk to Oswald if he would apply in person.[A13-1234] When Oswald telephoned the Paine house on Monday evening, Mrs. Paine told him about this possibility.[A13-1235] On the next day, Oswald was interviewed by Truly and hired in a temporary capacity. He began work on Wednesday, October 16. His duties were to fill book orders; his hours were 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., for which he received $1.25 an hour.[A13-1236]
Both the Oswalds were elated with the new job,[A13-1237] although it apparently required little skill or experience[A13-1238] and he indicated that he still hoped to obtain a better job.[A13-1239] He did a satisfactory job at the Depository,[A13-1240] but he kept to himself and very few of his fellow employees got to know him.[A13-1241]
During his first week at work, Oswald became acquainted with Frazier, with whom he arranged to ride to Irving on weekends.[A13-1242] On Friday, October 18, Frazier drove him from work to the Paine home;[A13-1243] since it was his birthday, Marina and Ruth Paine had arranged a small celebration.[A13-1244] On Sunday, he stayed with June and the Paine children, while Mrs. Paine drove Marina to Parkland Hospital where she gave birth to a second daughter, Rachel.[A13-1245] He went to work on Monday, but that evening visited Marina in the hospital and spent the night in Irving.[A13-1246] Marina wrote:
Monday evening Lee visited me in the hospital. He was very happy at the birth of another daughter and even wept a little. He said that two daughters were better for each other—two sisters. He stayed with me about two hours.[A13-1247]
Oswald returned to Dallas the next morning.[A13-1248]