None of us will ever forget where we were and what we were doing, that Friday morning, November 22, 1963 when word spread through the high school that President John F. Kennedy had been shot and soon after that he had died.

Donalda Hingston has been contacted by the Kennedy National Historic Site asking that members of our class contribute their recollections of that tragic day to help them develop an oral history of the events surrounding the assassination of our 35th President.

The plan is to have flyers available at the upcoming reunion events to provide more information and describe how we can get involved in the project.

Below is the message that Donalda received from Sara Patton, Lead Park Ranger, requesting our participation. 

If you wish to share your memories of visiting JFK's birthplace on Beals Street in the days after the assassination, please contact Park Ranger Sara Patton: sara_patton@nps.gov




Dear Ms. Hingston,
I am the lead park ranger at the John F. Kennedy National Historic Site in Brookline and saw your contact information along with a listing for the 50th reunion of the class of 1964 in the Brookline Tab. As you may remember, some Brookline High School students were involved in the first memorial gathering at John F. Kennedy's birthplace on Beals Street, then a private residence, on November 25, 1963. Six years later, the home opened to the public as a National Historic Site. In the years since, interest in thinking about the site's early history and its function as a memorial has increased, and we are very interested in learning more about the ceremony that day and Brookline High School student's involvement. We are currently in the process of developing an oral history project to collect these stories, and we are seeking to establish a list of individuals who remember these events and are interested in participating in an oral history project. The 50th reunion seems like an ideal time to connect with a number of graduates who may remember that cold day in 1963, and we are wondering if you would be willing to help spread the word. We would be happy to send a flyer you could distribute to attendees, develop information for your website or communicate in another way that you think would be most effective. We hope to be able to work with you and other members of the class of 1964 this fall, and look forward to hearing from you soon.
 
Sincerely,