November 22, 1963: A Look Back

Most remember tears--theirs and others'.

One person recalls her teachers crying, upon hearing the news, in the hallway of her elementary school.   

Another remembers his mother--"a diehard liberal Democrat"--weeping in the family's living room.

A third remembers breaking into tears herself when "Walter Cronkite removed his glasses and solemnly said that the President had died."

The poignant recollections of these and other members of the campus community are part of an NCC Library exhibit, "November 22, 1963: A Look Back," marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The exhibit features photos, newspapers, books, and most moving of all, an array of memories, each unique, yet all connected to the tragic events of a half century ago.  

One faculty member recalls being escorted by her elementary school teacher from school to a nearby church, where she and her classmates prayed for the President's recovery.  Another remembers "being called [by teachers] to meditation and prayer."  A third notes the irony of talking with a co-worker, just before learning of the assassination, about what nice weather the President had gotten for his trip to Dallas.

Others recall specific sights and sounds of the day: a group of people kneeling in impromptu prayer on a New York street corner, a collective gasp among those gathered around a dormitory television, a usually gruff shop teacher talking softly to eighth grade boys about the destructivenes of hate, a television newsman weeping on the air.

Still others reflect on the painful days that followed--the procession through the Capitol, the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald, a young son's salute, the funeral, the loss of a President so young ("he had a wife and young children"), the sense of grief and futility.  One writes of trying to understand the meaning of the riderless horse, the eternal flame, a grief-stricken family walking instead of riding in a  limousine.   What did all of these things mean? 

For many, memories of the confusion and chaos of November 22 loom large.

"All I kept thinking was, 'Will anything ever be the same?'" one faculty member writes. 

"It was unfathomable to a young child," recalls another, "how anyone would want to kill the President, especially one who was loved and admired by so many people."

For some, the political and personal meanings of the Kennedy assassination would become truly clear afterward.

"It was the end of Camelot, the beginning of the real world, and the start of our generation's struggle to regain hope," one faculty member recalls.

"I lived it," another person writes. "November 22, 1963 was my first day IN history."   

And one remembers an especially emotional moment a year later, at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, when Jacqueline Kennedy was introduced: "People stood on chairs with tears streaming down their faces.  Hard to describe the sound they made, but I wouldn't call it cheering."

Even if you're not old enough to remember November 22, 1963, go see this exhibit anyway. You'll learn about  an important time in our history, and you'll experience the moment through the words of those who were there--and who remember.