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.”