Lee Harvey Oswald as a Teenager

The youngest of three boys, Lee Harvey Oswald never knew his father and rarely saw his mother since she had to work long hours to support the family.  Interviewed by a case work in April of 1953, because he was skipping school and charged with truancy, Lee revealed some things about himself.

According to the case worker's report: "He acknowledged fantasies about being all powerful and being able to do anything that he wanted. When I asked [whether] this ever involved hurting or killing people, he said that it did sometimes but refused to elucidate on it."

Following her interview with Oswald, Evelyn Strickman (the social worker) observed:  "This is a seriously detached withdrawn youngster who has preserved some ability to relate but is very hard to reach. He is laconic and taciturn and while he answered questions he volunteered almost nothing about himself."

Credits

April 30, 1953 report authored by Evelyn Strickman about Lee Harvey Oswald.  In 1964, as Evelyn Strickman Siegel, she testified about Oswald for the Warren Commission.

Photo (Warren Commission Exhibit 58).  Quote, Evelyn Siegel report (April 30, 1953, case file #26996).  U.S. National Archives.