Staff Pick: JFK Recording
President John F Kennedy standing at podium.
Source: John F. Kennedy Presidential Campaign Rallies at ECC and NCSU, Audio and Video Recordings, UA60, UA28.04, UA65
Staff: Justin Borer and Alston Cobourn
Description:
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) served as the nation’s 35th president from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He spoke at East Carolina College’s football stadium on September 17, 1960, while traveling across the state on the presidential campaign trail. Later that day, he spoke and held a question and answer session in Reynolds Coliseum at North Carolina State University. This news broadcast on the campus radio station captures the entirety of his speech at ECC as well as his speech and Q&A session at NCSU. During his speeches, Kennedy spoke about needing to strengthen the nation’s standing in the world through increased economic growth, his support of a strong agricultural program “that lifts the farmer up, that does not liquidate him,” and the need to fight against the spread of communism. It includes commentary on dignitaries present, press coverage, and crowd response. The rally in Raleigh also includes Kennedy’s introduction by North Carolina governor Luther Hodges and Senator Kennedy’s answers to audience questions including one from gubernatorial nominee Terry Sanford. A second recording, from the School of Communication, captures the entire introduction before the speech at ECC as well as the school band playing afterward.
Don Edwards, Greenville native and President of University Book Exchange, Inc., donated to University Archives a silent, color family film, which shows amateur footage of Kennedy speaking at the ECC stadium. It includes images of Kennedy’s police escort and his entrance in a convertible, as well as him talking with the crowd and speaking on stage, and shots of the press. The entire film also shows the local family on a Florida road trip as well as the aftermath of Hurricane Donna in eastern North Carolina.