Michael L. Kurtz

Michael L. Kurtz (August 26, 1941 – March 1, 2025) was an American professor emeritus of history at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. He was known for his research into the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Kurtz wrote two books on Kennedy's assassination. Crime of the Century was published in 1982 by University of Tennessee Press and The JFK Assassination Debate: Lone Gunman versus Conspiracy was published in 2006 by University Press of Kansas. Ten years after its release, Crime of the Century was described as the only book on the assassination written by an academic historian. Shortly before the release of his first book, Kurtz stated that he did not think there was enough evidence to show whether or not Lee Harvey Oswald was involved in the assassination, but that there was no question that there was a conspiracy".

In 1995, Kurtz testified on the Kennedy assassination before the Assassination Records Review Board chaired by U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim. By 2013, Kurtz was reported to have taught a class on the assassination for over 40 years.

Kurtz published on other topics of American history, notably the career of Louisiana Governor Earl Kemp Long, co-authored with the late professor Morgan D. Peoples of Louisiana Tech University.

Kurtz received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Orleans, a Master of Arts from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a Ph.D. from Tulane University in New Orleans. He died in Hammond on March 1, 2025.

Authored works Books

(with Morgan D. Peoples)

Papers