Memories of JFK Harrisburg visit remain vivid
On Oct. 3, 1960, U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy visited Harrisburg. Presidential nominee against Richard Nixon, Kennedy was on the campaign trail and being escorted around the state by Illinois Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Powell.
According to the Daily Register Oct. 4, 1960, edition, Kennedy was accompanied by his sister, Mrs. Eunice Shriver of Chicago, and U.S. Senator Paul Douglas, Congressman Kenneth J. Gray, Gubernatorial Candidate Otto Kerner, Powell, nominee for state auditor Michael Howlett and nominee for lieutenant governor Sam Shapiro.
School was dismissed for the afternoon because the event was to begin at 4:05 p.m.
Police blocked Poplar Street traffic from Main Street to Vine Street. The gathering filled the street and sidewalks from Main Street to Vine Street and overflowed onto the courthouse lawn. The open-topped limousine did not arrive until 6:05 p.m. It's previous stop was Marion and big crowds were blamed for the late arrival.
Kennedy was introduced to the crowd at 6:12 p.m. and spoke until 6:25 p.m. He told the crowd Powell had brought him on the same campaign trail so successfully used by Harry Truman in 1948.
Now, 50 years after his death by assassination Nov. 22, 1963, memories of Kennedy's visit remain vivid in the minds of those who attended.
The transcript of Kennedy's Harrisburg speed is available at The American Presidency Project.
The missed handshake
By Gary DeNeal
Previously published in "Springhouse" magazine Volume 25 No. 5.
On Oct. 3, 1960, John F. Kennedy, Democrat nominee for president, visited Harrisburg, Illinois, arriving in a motorcade. To celebrate the event schools were dismissed for the afternoon, probably following short talks by the teachers on the importance of witnessing historical events when possible. The time for such witnessing was at hand.
A senior at Harrisburg High School at the time, I was part of the crowd that waited for the candidate at the corner of Poplar and Main, near Jackson's Drug Store. People lined up for miles along the route of the motorcade. As far as the world was concerned, Kennedy's visit county for little, but for Harrisburg, Illinois, it was a big deal. We waited, and we waited, and then we waited some more.
At first thin, then growing, came a wall of sound. From the west streamed the wail of sirens. Car horns blared. Our patience paid off when the motorcade filled Poplar Street. Organized pandemonium was on parade! It was wonderful.
Motorcade to crowd and crowd to motorcade everybody was waving and yelling. Banners glittered, bringing to mind the choppiness of ocean waves on a sunny day, or corn leaves caught in a brisk, bright wind. Madness filled Poplar Street, the kind of madness allowed when a small town clasps hands with History in the raw, and, speaking of history, there he was, in the flesh, in the open-topped automobile; there he was, the smiling young man from Massachusetts with the shockingly dark complexion. I thought he was as tanned as anyone I had ever seen and I had spent all of my seventeen years around people used to working in the sun. Only later did information surface that the man's tanned look was the result of a potentially fatal medical condition.
Fearing I might accidentally pull him from the car if I shook the hand he extended my way, I cleverly passed up the chance of a lifetime to make physical contact with the man destined to become the symbol of an era. Such thoughtfulness made it impossible years down the line to wow listeners with the refrain, "You know, back when I shook John F. Kennedy's hand…" Of course, what I blamed on thoughtfulness may really have been nothing nobler than country shyness, a quality that never seems to go away if one is infected early enough.
Oh well, at least we did lock eyes for a long couple of seconds and I swear there was a concerned look on Kennedy's face.
Again, this may only be imagination talking, but as he gave his speech from the courthouse a few minutes later, Kennedy seemed to be directing much of his message my way. It could be he thought, "Now why did this kid refuse to shake my hand. Does his hesitancy to connect bode ill for my election chances?"
As the world knows, John F. Kennedy barely won the election. Three years after visiting Harrisburg, Illinois, in an open-topped automobile, he was gunned down in Dallas, Texas. He was in the backseat of an open-topped automobile, smiling and waving at the crowd.
Roadside wave
Ron Nelson and brothers Don, Steve and Roger lived in the countryside on state Route 13, 4 to 5 miles west of Harrisburg. They did not attend the court square gathering, but knew the senator's entourage would be driving past.
The boys were prepared. They had a slate. Written on one side was "Vote for Nixon."
"Because we were Republican," Nelson said.
Written on the opposite side was "Vote for Kennedy."
The motorcade approached.
"We saw him go by in an open limousine with flags flying between Marion and Harrisburg," Nelson said.
The one holding the slate turned it so that the side saying "Vote for Kennedy" faced the limousine.
"He came within 20 feet of us and waved to us with his hair blowing in the wind and went on into Harrisburg," Nelson said.
Even then at tender ages the boys remarked the car seemed odd.
"We commented how open the vehicle was for someone like Kennedy, even then," Nelson said.
The boys went inside to listen to Kennedy's speech broadcast on WEBQ.
The stolen chair
Nelson is not sure who first told him, but a story from Kennedy Harrisburg lore involves a strong-willed Hardin County Democrat named Kathleen Burgess. Her husband had suffered a stroke and she operated Burgess Motors between Elizabethtown and Rosiclare.
"She did not know any boundaries," Nelson said.
Burgess was at the front of the speaking platform at the south porch of the Saline County Courthouse, but she was not satisfied with her position, Nelson said. She wanted a seat on the platform with Kennedy and the other dignitaries.
"When the man rose to introduce Kennedy she sat in his chair," Nelson said.
"She would not move. The man had to stand for the rest of the speech."
JFK badge and ribbon
By Frances Dyhrkopp
Previously published in "Springhouse" magazine Volume 25 No. 5.
Paul Powell was escorting JFK around Southern Illinois in 1960, when we saw them at Harrisburg. Our son, the late Tony Dyhrkopp, was in the crowd yelling, "Hi, Mr. Powell. Hi, Mr. Powell."
Paul Powell asked the guards to let that young man through the rope. On Tony's meeting JFK, Mr. Powell asked Tony why he didn't have a Kennedy ribbon on. Immediately, with great concern Tony said, "My gosh, Mr. Powell, they cost fifty cents."
JFK himself took the time to say, "Well, here young man, you can wear this one and it's free!" (Nobody but a mother and dad knew it was really just that Tony thought that button should not have cost fifty cents.)
Catholic allure
Barney Bush had the chance to shake Kennedy's hand. Kennedy made the effort to meet and shake hands with each of the members of the Harrisburg High School marching band. Bush played tuba. The Eldorado High School marching band also performed for the crowd prior to Kennedy's arrival.
"We all got to meet him. Everybody walked by and we shook hands with him," Bush said.
Bush said teacher and politician Carl Beggs was standing on one side of Kennedy and Mayor C.C. Porter was on the other.
Bush was interested in Kennedy in part because there was so much local distrust of his Catholic faith.
"I studied him. I heard people say because he was Catholic the Pope would be running us," he said.
"That was the daily dialog around Harrisburg. People would be coming into the show (Bush worked at the Grand Theatre) saying, 'We're going to have a Catholic for president and the Pope will be running the country.'
"So what if the Pope runs the country? What happens then?"
He heard one man in the crowd disparage Kennedy's Bostonian accent.
"Somebody in the crowd was saying, 'He doesn't even speak good English," Bush said.
Kennedy's accent added to his allure in Bush's mind.
"I was impressed. I'd only heard it in the movies so I was excited to hear it in real life for the first time," he said.
The crowd remained and mingled after the entourage moved on. Bush said he either went home to go swimming in the creek or to work at the theater.
Benefits of the engineer
Not everyone could approach Kennedy on his speaking platform, but Harvey Slayton could. He was not a politician helping Kennedy campaign - or a supporter aggressive enough to steal the announcer's seat. He was a radio engineer for WEBQ.
"At the conclusion I pushed forward to shake his hand. I thought for someone of this importance coming to Harrisburg I wouldn't have the chance ever again," Slayton said.
Slayton was a Kennedy fan.
"There was such a difference between him and Richard Nixon who he was running against. He really appealed to young people. Naturally, being a Democrat, I was strongly for him," Slayton said.
Slayton - as well as much of the country - remained glued to the drama on television in the days after Kennedy's assassination.
"Of course I remember the day he was shot in 1963. Terrible, terrible," Slayton said.
"We were in Eldorado visiting relatives. We couldn't believe it. We didn't have a TV on. Somebody told us. We turned it on and the next two days until he was buried there was nothing else broadcast on all three channels."
Harrisburg Golden Circle memories
On Thursday, Nov. 21, the Daily Register sent Tom Kane to gather impressions of JFK from local residents at the Harrisburg Golden Circle.
Robert Carlton, 64 I went up to the courthouse to see him but I didn't listen to his speech. I was in the fifth grade. When he was shot I was in the eighth grade at Dorrisville School at Holland and Longley Streets. When we heard of the shooting they told us he was dead. I was shocked and one of the girls cried. It seems like it doesn't matter any more who is president. What matters is who are the powers behind the president.
Debbie Scott, 59 I was at Dorrisville School also when I heard he was shot. We had a classroom election earlier, during the election year and JFK won. When we heard he was dead we rushed home to tell our parents."
Carsa Hedger, 80 He was very charismatic. I worked at the courthouse and got a pretty good look at him. One of my colleagues (Janette Alexander) took home the glass that he drank from. I think she has it to this day. JFK was very articulate. (See the story "Kennedy drinking glass kept by Harrisburg woman" elsewhere on this site)
Doyle Hedger, 85 You know Kennedy was Catholic and this is the Bible Belt around here. That was a big question back then. After hearing him speak I felt better about him. He was probably our best looking president. He delivered his speech well. It was short and to the point. I can recall that it was a nice day. He spoke about farming and coal mining.
Gene Hauptmann, 65 I was 10 years old and I heard the speech but I don't remember any of it. He did a good job as president.
Don Cooper, 82 I was finishing my mail route and stopped by the courthouse.
I couldn't hear too well because of my war injury. But his gestures made me think of him as a spunky speaker. At that time I didn't know anything about him. But after that speech I felt better about him.
Bob Alvey, 90 Kennedy was headed out of town with U.S. Rep. Ken Gray in the car in front of him. The Channel 22 studio was on the way and a reporter asked for an interview with Kennedy but Gray said no time for it. Kennedy asked what the reporter wanted and Gray told him there was no time for an interview. Kennedy said he would be happy to talk to the reporter and gave him the interview.
Juanita Pickford, 88 I lived at Buena Vista and Kennedy used that route into town. He was in an open limousine and I saw him combing his hair in the limo in preparation for his Harrisburg appearance. He must have thought little Harrisburg was a big town.
From Daily Register Facebook
Shirley Reeder-Wallace Watching the parade and running to shake his hand which I never got the chance. I will never forget that day. I was in High School there.
Steve Kotner I was there. Remember reddish hair, big enthusiastic crowd, cheering. I also saw Tricky Dick later that year in Carbondale, at the football stadium. Was pleased that, by virtue of seeing both candidates, I would be able to say I had seen the president of the U.S.