Nov
21
Memorial for JFK, May 1964
November 21, 2007 | Subscribe to this post
Posted by Stephen Fletcher in Biography, UNC
Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, marks the forty-fourth anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Six months after his death, on Sunday, 17 May 1964, the state of North Carolina held a memorial service for Kennedy in Kenan Stadium on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus.
In an effort to raise money for the Kennedy presidential library, “a living memorial,” each state pledged to raise funds. Governor Terry Sanford set the state’s goal at $230,000 (the eqivalent of $1.5 million in 2007 dollars), and Hugh Morton chaired North Carolina’s fund raising effort. An estimated 12,000 people attended the memorial, paying $10.00 (about $65.00 today) to attend and contribute toward the goal. As the date drew near, the governor announced that students were to be admitted free of charge because it was determined that sufficient contributions from the community had been raised. The News and Observer noted in its report the following day that no other state in the country had yet to raise money by public subscription, and that eighty percent of the state’s goal had been met.
The memorial featured a tribute by Billy Graham and addresses by Governor Terry Sanford; Luther H. Hodges, former North Carolina governor and then current United States Secretary of Commerce; and Senator Edward Kennedy, brother of John F. Kennedy. In the photograph above, Rose Kennedy, mother of the former president, is seated on the platform with Hugh Morton (left) and Terry Sanford (right). There are several slides of the event in the collection, but the photographer is unknown.
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Links
- ArchivesNext - Blog examining archives and technology
- Biographical Conversations with . . . Hugh Morton - An episode from the UNC TV program featuring a one-on-one conversation with Hugh Morton
- Chapel Hill Memories - Recollections and memorabilia from Chapel Hill native Charly Mann
- Duke Digital Collections - Updates and discussion from staff of the Duke Libraries’ Digital Collections Program
- Field Trip South - Blog of the Southern Folklife Collection (SFC), Wilson Library, featuring SFC, follow SFC holdings, events, sights, sounds, etc.
- Grandfather Mountain - Scenic attraction and nature preserve in Linville, NC owned by Morton from 1952 until his death in 2006
- Morton Biography from Grandfather Mountain website
- NC Collection Photographic Archives
- NC Digital Collections Collaboratory - For Digital Librarians in North Carolina to share experiences, exchange ideas, and develop collaborations.
- NC Miscellany Blog - Blog of the North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, UNC-CH
- Posterity Project - Blog related to archives, history, civic responsibility, and open access to public records in Tennessee
- Processing the Chew Family Papers - Reports on an NEH-funded project to process the papers of the Chew Family at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
- Southern Short Course in News Photography - America’s longest running photojournalism seminar, of which Morton was a founder
- Southern Sources - Interesting staff finds, curiosities, old favorites, and other cool stuff from Wilson Library’s Southern Historical Collection
- UNC Libraries
- UNC-CH Digital Collections homepage
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In the photo of Rose Kennedy, the person on the left behind Hugh is Bill Aycock (I think).
I think the second person from the right is Gordon Gray.
Are you sure that is Terry Sanford in the sun glasses?
In 1966 while I was a counselor one summer at Camp Yonahnoka, Weldon Schenck and I were tooling around Linville and drove up to the Hodges’ home on the lake. It had rained and we got our car stuck in the mud just in front of their house. A very irritated Luther Hodges helped us get the car out, but not before we’d completely totalled his freshly-seeded yard. It was truly weird seeing him. He was shirtless and looked like he was wearing face makeup.
I found this website whilst searching for something else. Very interesting!
There is Morton image from the Kenan Stadium JFK tribute on page 22 of Hugh’s 1988 book, “Making A Difference in North Carolina.”
Very interesting tribute to JFK. Like John, I was looking for basketball goals for our school …. and I ended up here. Go North Carolina!