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Chapel Hill's 1964 Tribute to John Fitzgerald Kennedy
by Charly Mann
On Sunday May 17, 1964 I attended special ceremonies to honor the late President John F. Kennedy at the University of North Carolina's Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. Tens of thousands of Tar Heels turned out for the memorial program which featured speeches by the Reverend Billy Graham, the mother of the late President Rose Kennedy, his brother Senator Ted Kennedy, North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford, and former NC governor and current Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges.
Joan and Senator Ted Kennedy with Rose Kennedy and Govenor Terry Sanford walking into Kenan Stadium on May 17, 1964
The event was a fundraiser for the construction of the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. North Carolina was the first state in the nation to organize a tribute event for the late President. Ironically, I recall that President Lyndon Johnson, who disliked President Kennedy and his family, was the honorary national chairman of the Kennedy library. President Johnson was thought likely to attend the event, but did not. I suspect he wanted to for political reasons, but that the Kennedy family did all in their power to make him not feel welcome. Roland Giduz was the Orange County chairman of the event.
There was widespread speculation that President Lyndon Johnson would attend the President Kenndey Tribute in Chapel Hill
Tickets to the ceremony were $10, and everyone who bought one had their name placed on a list which was given to President Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy. That list has since been archived in the Kennedy library.
President John F. Kennedy's younger brother, Senator Ted Kennedy, speaks at tribute in Chapel Hill in 1964
The ceremony lasted for an hour and was preceded by a concert by the UNC band. The highlight of the tribute was a short speech by the late President's mother, Rose Kennedy, after which she was presented a check of $250,000 for the library. This was Rose Kennedy's second trip to Chapel Hill. In 1960 she came to town to campaign for her son when he was running for President.
Rose Kennedy, President John F Kennedy's mother, speaks at tribute to her son at Kenan Stadium in May of 1964
There is a rare color film which was made of the event titled North Carolina's Tribute to John F Kennedy and is 29 minutes in length. It was produced by James Beveridge and narrated by Ben Mast. As far as I can tell, The John F. Kennedy Library in Boston has sole possession of this movie, and I am sure many Chapel Hill Memories readers would enjoy viewing it.
Days before the Kennedy Tribute is held in Chapel Hill President Lyndon Johnson looks at program to be handed out during the ceremony.
Related articles:
President John F Kennedy Comes To Chapel Hill in 1961
Chapel Hill on the day President Kennedy Died
Comments:
Doris Fenwick
5:48 AM Sun 2/21/2010
I lived in Durham in 1964 and have no memory of this event. I loved President Kennedy and his family, and would have gone if I had known about it. Have you seen the film that was made of the Tribute?
Rhonda Bayless
5:29 PM Sat 2/20/2010
I gather you were less than 14 when the events from this and the previous event occurred. I am amazed by your recall and the photos that you have collected from these events. Great work.
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Investment strategies and advice about Apple Inc. and related technology companies by Charly Mann. www.appleinvesting.com
Investment strategies and advice about Apple Inc. and related technology companies by Charly Mann. www.appleinvesting.com
Chapel Hill is located on a hill whose only distinguishing feature in the 18th century was a small chapel on top called New Hope Chapel. This church was built in 1752 and is currently the location of The Carolina Inn. The town was founded in 1819, and chartered in 1851.
What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls. or the crisp October nights. No, our love for this place is based upon the fact that it is as it was meant to be, The University of the People.
-- Charles Kuralt
Dark Side of the Hill -- Pink Floyd, the creators of the most popular album in history, Dark Side of the Moon, took the second half of their name from Floyd Council, a Chapel Hill native, and great blues singer and guitarist. He once belonged to a group called "The Chapel Hillbillies".
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Oklahoma Birds and Butterflies
http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com
Oklahoma Birds and Butterflies
http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com
There would probably be no Chapel Hill if the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees in 1793 had not chosen land across from New Hope Chapel for the location of the university. By 1800 there were about 100 people living in thirty houses surrounding the campus.
The University North Carolina's first student was Hinton James, who enrolled in February, 1795. There is now a dormitory on the campus named in his honor.
The University of North Carolina was closed from 1870 to 1875 because of lack of state funding.
William Ackland left his art collection and $1.25 million to Duke University in 1940 on the condition that he would be buried in the art museum that the University was to build with his bequest. Duke rejected this condition even though members of the Duke Family are buried in Duke Chapel. What followed was a long and acrimonious legal battle between Ackland relatives who now wanted the inheritance, Rollins College, and the University of North Carolina, each attempting to receive the funds. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and in 1949 UNC was awarded the money for the museum. Ackland is buried near the museum's entrance. When the museum first opened, in the early sixties, there were rumors that his remains were leaking out of the mausoleum.
The official name of the Arboretum on the University of North Carolina campus is the Coker Arboretum. It is named after Dr. William Cocker, the University's first botany professor. It occupies a little more than five acres. It was founded in 1903.
Chapel Hill's main street has always been called Franklin Street. It was named after Benjamin Franklin in the early 1790s.
Chapel Hill High School and Chapel Hill Junior High were on Franklin Street in the same location as University Square until the mid 1960s.
The Colonial Drug Store at 450 West Franklin Street was owned and operated by John Carswell. It was famous for a fresh-squeezed carbonated orange beverage called a "Big O". In the early 1970s, I managed the Record and Tape Center next door, and must have had over 100 of those drinks. The Colonial Drug Store closed in 1996.
Sutton's Drugstore, which opened in 1923, has one of the last soda fountains in the South. It is one of the few businesses remaining on Franklin Street that was in operation when I was growing up in the 1950s.
Future President Gerald Ford lived in Chapel Hill twice. First when he was 24, in 1938, he took a law couse in summer school at UNC. He lived in the Carr Building, which was a law school dormitory. At the same time, Richard Nixon, the man he served under as Vice President, was attending law school at Duke. In 1942, Ford returned to Chapel Hill to attend the U.S. Navy's Pre-Flight School training program. He lived in a rental house on Hidden Hills Drive.
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Whether you like or dislike John F. Kennedy, no President ever had as much charisma or spoke as well as him, and that alone makes him one of the most inspiring leaders in history.