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JFK speaking at the University of North Dakota on September 25, 1963, less than two months
before his death in Dallas (photograph from UND's Digital Archive) |
As we come to the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, I think back to that day and the powerful feelings of disbelief and sadness are still with me. The horrible pictures coming in from Dallas and the news reports from a stunned, tears-in-his-eyes Walter Cronkite were impossible to believe.
I was a sophomore at VCSTC and in my apartment which was on Main Street along the river just west of the footbridge that crossed over into City Park. My roommate, Judy Bina, was with me when we heard the news on TV. We were stunned! We just sat and stared at the TV, watching it all unfold. I had to be to work at Valley Drug so I couldn’t stay to watch too long. However, if I recall correctly, most businesses closed. The country was at a standstill.
I also couldn’t remember if the President ever visited North Dakota, so I Googled it and learned he was in Grand Forks at UND just under two month before he flew to Dallas. The Grand Forks Herald printed an article about that visit in September 2013. A human interest story of a mother and daughter and the photo taken of the President. Worth checking out by clicking here.
I’d be interested in knowing where you were and what you were doing when you heard the President had been shot and killed. It was a moment that brought us all together like no other time. Share your thoughts by using the "comments" link below.
by Diane Sauer Hughes
To read the text of President Kennedy's speech (as delivered) at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, on September 25, 1963, click here.
The above photograph and other pictures and documents are available from the University of North Dakota Chester Fritz Library, Department of Special Collections. To view the complete JFK collection,
click here. For information about this or other UND digital collections, contact the Department of Special Collections at a
archives@mail.und.edu or go to the Library’s
Digital Collections website.
5 comments:
As President Kennedy's limousine made the turn from Houston onto Elm Street in Dallas, it was 12:29 PM, CST. About a minute later, shots were fired from the Texas School Book Depository building and the rest is history. At that moment, I was registering for the winter quarter at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. I felt something strange was going on as I walked down the stairs from the registration area. It was unusual to see mall groups of people engaged in very intense conversation; some were openly crying. As I rode the city bus back to KSTP, in the "midway section" of the Twin Cities, I watched the same scene. Arriving at the station, NBC-TV was carrying the story and that's how I learned of the assassination. Certainly it was a moment--and a feeling--I will never forget.
I was at my sorority house, having just finished lunch and heading up the stairs to get ready for my 1:00 p.m. class. The radio was on, (some of the girls were playing bridge on the floor at the stairway landing) so we heard the news that way. A couple of us went ahead to our 1:00 class - never ever cut a class, you know - but we were just stunned and could hardly move. The professor came on to the stage and said that class was cancelled. We went back to the house, down into the basement where our one and only TV set was located, and all of our housemates watched that TV set for the next 3 days. I still get this "stunned" feeling when I think about that day. Not only was it the end of Camelot, it was the end of our country's innocence and the beginning of a more violent society. We were watching when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot, and we watched that TV set until after the funeral. It was just total disbelief.
Sorry - I hit the wrong button when I was trying to enter my identity. The above comment was from Barb Sheppard Lang
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Thank you, Debele, for you thoughtful and appreciated compliment. Glad you found the blog interesting. Although designed for the 1961 class of Valley City (ND) high school, we've found it has readers across the country and, in fact, in other parts of the world. Glad to have you stop by!
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