May 25, 1964 - “I don’t think we should forget President Kennedy.”
The words were spoken softly but firmly by Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy at a news conference today at the IBM Building, 590 Madison Ave. at 57th St., where an exhibition of pictures, papers, and mementos of the President will open tomorrow.
The exhibition will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, including Sunday, until June 6. Then it will be taken to 22 other cities, ending a nationwide tour on Oct. 18 in San Francisco.
All the exhibits will be placed in the John F. Kennedy Library to be built along the banks of the Charles River at Harvard University.
Mrs. Kennedy observed that her husband had looked forward to retiring to the library and making it his headquarters, as former President Truman has done in Independence, Mo.
She expressed the hope that the Kennedy library would serve as an inspiration to young persons to carry on the ideas and ideals of the President.
Referring to her own reaction to the exhibition, Mrs. Kennedy whispered: “I suppose the photographs are the hardest to look at. And perhaps his Inaugural Address, written in his own handwriting.”
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who visited the exhibition before the news conference, commented briefly on some of the items as he gazed at them. His eyes lingered for several seconds on one of the mounted photographs.
“That’s one of the family’s favorite pictures of the President,” he remarked.
The almost life-size photograph showed the President standing in front of his Hyannis Port summer home.
The exhibition also includes President Kennedy’s famous rocking chair, his White House desk, gifts from foreign leaders, and numerous personal mementos.
Eugene Black, chairman of the campaign to build the library, said 50,000 contributions had already been received, including amounts as small as one dollar.
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