Today marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. For most current Baylor students, the shooting is just something from their history textbooks, something their grandparents experienced.
Thankfully, those interested in learning about that tragic episode of America’s past have a treasure at their fingerprints. As the Dallas Morning News noted earlier this year, the JFK Materials Collection at Baylor’s W.R. Poage Legislative Library is “quietly growing into one of the nation’s premier collections,” with much of the collection available online in digital format.
“In recent years, more than a dozen researchers, authors and experts on the assassination have donated work accumulated over their lifetimes,” the Morning News writes. “The files include hundreds of thousands of public documents, photos, recordings, reel-to-reel films and other materials about the tragedy and subsequent investigation — or, depending on your point of view, government cover-up.”
The Poage Library is honoring the fallen President with an exhibit, “John F. Kennedy: His Life – His Presidency – His Legacy,” through May 2014. At 3 p.m. today, four Waco residents will share their memories of the day and the man at Poage in a special event.
Other JFK/Baylor ties:
- Baylor alumnus Charles Poe was a Smithsonian Channel executive producer for “The Day Kennedy Died,” which debuted on the network last weekend. He hosted an on-campus preview for Baylor students last week before the film’s premiere.
- The newspaper above was a special edition of The Baylor Lariat printed 50 years ago today. Click here or on the image to see the full paper from the Lariat’s digital archives, courtesy of Baylor Libraries, and click here for six more pages of follow-up printed a few days later.
- Lariat reporter Ed DeLong was in Dallas to cover Kennedy’s visit; click here to read his experience that day.
- The Baylor Libraries Digital Collection is highlighting several related collections on their blog.
- Kennedy’s surgeon spoke at Baylor last month on his experience.
- Lariat staffers from this day in 1963 talk about what it was like, 50 years later.
A solemn sic ‘em to those keeping Kennedy’s memory alive.