Friday, November 22, 2024, marks the sixty first anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. On this solemn date, many will revisit the tragedy that stunned a nation. For my part, I wanted to reflect not on loss, but on remembrance, on the small ways I have tried to carry forward the memory of President Kennedy and his family.
Gifts and Acquisitions:
In early June, I broke a five-month book buying pause when I came across a 40th Anniversary edition of PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II by Robert J. Donovan. It was an inexpensive purchase, but meaningful, as it connected me to the story that first introduced Kennedy to national fame. The book now rests on my designated Kennedy shelf, waiting for the day I turn to it for study or reflection.
A few months later, a friend I will call “Jackie” surprised me with a gift: a hardcover copy of Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy, edited by Maxwell Taylor Kennedy.
To honor both her kindness and Robert Kennedy’s legacy, I brought the book to several Massachusetts sites connected to him: his birthplace in Brookline, Harvard Stadium where he once played football, and the JFK Library exhibit that recreates his Attorney General’s office.
On November 20, Robert Kennedy’s ninety ninth birthday, I shared those photographs on Instagram as a gesture of thanks and remembrance.
In September, another friend discovered a vinyl record, John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1917-1963: A Memorial Album, at a flea market in Utah.
She sent it to me unasked, knowing it belonged in my collection. Though I do not own a record player, the album sits as a cherished artifact on my shelf, one I plan to display more prominently in the future.
Acts of Remembrance:
This autumn also brought an opportunity for a different kind of remembrance. On October 10, Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy, passed away at the age of 96. My friend Jackie shared with me that the JFK Hyannis Museum had invited the public to sign a condolence book in her honor.
Instead of traveling to Hyannis, I went to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, arriving just before closing.
There, on a quiet table, stood a vase of flowers, a framed photograph of Mrs. Kennedy from 1968, and the condolence guestbook.
I added my name and a few words, knowing I might be the last to sign that day. It was a small act, but one that felt necessary. I would have regretted not going. In leaving my signature, I felt I had offered a gesture of gratitude to a woman who had lived through triumph and tragedy, and whose memory deserves to endure.
A New Project:
Earlier this month, I found inspiration in the work of Thomas Duke, known online as @steppingthroughfilm, who matches film stills with their present-day locations.
I began at Holyhood Cemetery, where Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy are buried. Standing among the stones, I held up archival images, aligning past and present in a single frame. The act was simple, but powerful, a way of making history visible, alive, and connected to our own time.
As I continue this project, I want to emphasize joy and vitality, not only mourning. The Kennedys knew tragedy, but they also embodied energy, motion, and vision. My hope is to start with images that capture those qualities, so that this act of remembrance begins in celebration of life.
Looking Ahead:
Individually, these gestures may seem small: receiving a book, visiting a gravesite, signing a condolence guestbook. But together they form a quiet thread of remembrance. They remind me that legacies are not carried forward by grand gestures alone, but by the steady accumulation of meaningful acts.
In the year ahead, I plan to continue this work: to visit more sites, create more photo pairings, and keep learning about the Kennedys beyond what the history books record. By doing so, I hope to honor their memory not only through artifacts, but through active engagement with the places and stories they left behind.
To close, I return to the words President Kennedy prepared for delivery on November 22, 1963, words that still speak to the responsibility of remembrance and action:
“We in this country, in this generation, are by destiny rather than choice the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of ‘peace on earth, good will toward men.’”
These words remind me why remembering matters. To carry memory forward is not only to honor the past, but also to prepare ourselves to live worthily in the present.
