Fifty years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, the city honored his memory with a short commemoration Friday morning in Dealey Plaza.
The brief ceremony of three songs sung by the U.S. Navy Choir and three speeches lasted only 34 minutes in the cold, wet and windy weather. Mayor Mike Rawlings and historian David McCullough remarked on Kennedy’s legacy and inspiration and Rev. Zan W. Holmes, Jr. gave the closing prayer.
“It seems that we all grew up that day, city and citizens, and suddenly we had to step up to trying to live up to the challenges of the words and visions of a beloved, yet now late president,” Rawlings said.
McCullough recited Kennedy’s own words in his speech.
“John Kennedy’s words, again and again, are fired with his love of life and love of his country and its history,” he said.
SMU MSA graduate student John Angle attended the commemoration with his mother.
“The ceremony lived up to all of my expectations — respectful, meaningful, but a little chilly and wet,” Angle said. “David McCullough is one of my favorite writers and he was fantastic.”
The commemoration was the first public event Dallas has organized to recognize the shooting of the 35th president. Originally planned to last an hour, the ceremony was cut short due to the freezing weather. The crowd in Dealey Plaza grew to about 5,000 as expected, however the introductory performance by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and closing Air Force flyover were cut from the program.
Caren Prothro, SMU trustee and member of the JFK 50th planning committee, said today’s Dallas bears no resemblance to the “city of hate” of the 60s.
“We are a city on the move and we have global impact,” Prothro said. “It’s an exciting opportunity for a new generation of belief again of what Kennedy tried to teach us, which was our capacity to do great things as a nation and as a city and state.”
Prothro said the goal of the event was to honor the Kennedy’s legacy and that it was a solemn occasion. A simple black and white JFK portrait hung behind the stage in downtown Dallas and both the American and Texas flags were lowered to half mast.
Rawlings announced a new memorial unveiled Friday on the grassy knoll, inscribed with the last words of Kennedy’s Nov. 22, 1963 undelivered speech that he was to give at the end of the motorcade route at the Dallas Trade Mart. The memorial “will serve as a reminder and permanent monument to President Kennedy’s memory,” Rawlings said.
At 12:30 p.m., the same time Kennedy was shot on Elm Street half a century ago, the mayor called for a moment of silence.
Attendees included people of all ages and from all over the world. Public admission was limited to a lottery-style distribution and all chosen attendees were subject to a background check and adherence to crowd behavior policies. Dallas police reported no incidents. Unticketed public gathered at the JFK Memorial Plaza a block away from Dealey Plaza or at AT&T; Plaza in Victory Park.
