STANDARDS

Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.4, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.2, RI.6-8.4, RI.6-8.7, W.6-8.4

NCSS: Culture • Time, Continuity, and Change • People, Places, and Environments • Power, Authority, and Governance • Production, Distribution, and Consumption • Science, Technology, and Society

Black & white photo of John F. Kennedy's family mourning at his funeral

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

NOVEMBER 25, 1963
The funeral was the day of John Jr.’s third birthday. 

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

PIC FROM THE PAST

Farewell to a President

Photo of President John F. Kennedy

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

President John F. Kennedy

This month marks the 60th anniversary of a national tragedy. On November 22, 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The entire country mourned. This photograph encapsulated that grief.

Kennedy’s wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, stands with their children Caroline, 5, and John Jr., 3, outside St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C. As Kennedy’s casket passes, John-John, as he was known, raises his hand in salute. 

Photographer Stan Stearns captured this famous image. His boss yelled at him when he rushed back to the newsroom to get the image ready for printing instead of going to the cemetery for Kennedy’s burial. “I kept telling him I had THE PICTURE of the funeral,” Stearns later recalled. “The photo was used worldwide.”

What details from the photo stand out to you?

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