November-December, 2013
The New York State Library's seventh floor exhibit for November and December, 2013, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, with an array of newspaper headlines, magazines, books, government documents and even political cartoons drawn from a variety of the Library's collections.
The events of Kennedy's assassination, and its aftermath, took place in the full glare of news cameras. Images of these events, culled from the pages of contemporary magazines and newspapers, have retained their power as lasting symbols in the decades since 1963.
Those on exhibit in this case included newspaper headlines from the New York Times and "Extra" editions of Newsday (Long Island) and the Syracuse Herald Journal, as well as color images from Life and National Geographic magazines.
Most are from the NYS Library's Headline News Collection (Manuscripts & Special Collections, Call No. QC16539).
In the center of the case was the program from a memorial service for John Fitzgerald Kennedy, held at City Hall Plaza in New York City on December 2, 1963. In addition to processions, religious rites and ceremonies, and speeches by invited dignitaries, the service included musical performances by the Department of Sanitation Band, and by vocalists Leslie Uggams and Marian Anderson. (Manuscripts & Special Collections, Call No. BRO6036+. New York State Library copies donated by Assemblywoman Donna A. Lupardo, from the personal papers of Francis P. Lupardo.)
Also in this case were:
Editorial Cartoons by Hy Rosen (1923-2011), for the Albany Times Union.
From The Hy Rosen Political Cartoons Collection (Manuscripts & Special Collections, Call No. SC13603)
The Thousand days; John Fitzgerald Kennedy as President. Book designed by John Raymond. Editorial by Paul Ballot. New York: Citadel Press, 1964. (Manuscripts & Special Collections, Call No. N973.92209, fT256, 207-1912)
The Warren Commission, Other Investigations, and Conspiracy Theories
Just days after President Kennedy was killed, President Johnson established the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy to investigate the assassination. The group, more commonly known as the Warren Commission (because it was chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren), presented its final report to President Johnson on September 24, 1964.
The Warren Commission's report concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing President Kennedy, and that Jack Ruby subsequently acted alone in the murder of Oswald. Not everyone agreed with these findings, however, and various conspiracy theories and alternate interpretations of the evidence were developed over the years. Some have even proposed that the Warren Report itself was a conspiracy to cover up what actually happened.
from the U.S. Government Printing Office. (Note: It is a large document - 920 pages - and may take some time to download and open.) Because of the enduring interest in and speculation about Kennedy's assassination, the United States passed "The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992," designed to preserve all government records related to the Kennedy assassination, declassify as many of the documents as possible, and make them available to the public.
These documents, from the Library's collection of Federal Documents, are related to the original act, the Review Board that carried out the charge, and the collection eventually made available through the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Kennedy Mystique
With John Kennedy's ascension to the presidency, he and his already prominent family became the central figures in a cult of celebrity unmatched in modern politics. The "Kennedy mystique" was reflected in hundreds of books—some serious and some humorous, but all tinged with the sense of youthful exuberance that the Kennedys seemed to embody. No doubt it added to the depth of the tragedy in Dallas, as the catch phrase "Kennedy curse" was soon attached to the family legend.
Additional Memorials, Tributes and Biographies
Exhibit curated by Paul Mercer and Diane Madrigal