A Day to Remember
Sixty years ago, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech at Rice Stadium that launched the nation into an era of human space exploration. Rice alumni and friends share their memories.
“It seemed so abstract at the time. It means so much more now than it did then.” — Geoff Winningham ’65
“As an editor of the Thresher, I assigned myself the story and sat at the press table on the field. In fact, my friend covering the story for the Daily Texan and I sat next to Pierre Salinger, JFK’s press secretary, and had a bird’s-eye view.” — Eugene Keilin ’64
“I clearly remember that bright, beautiful day, as the whole freshman class sat waiting for his arrival. All of us were dressed in white short-sleeve shirts with skinny ties, now seeming to foreshadow Mission Control and the guys who would eventually engineer the president’s proposal.” — Charles Helpinstill ’66
“I remember him saying ‘It is haahhd.’ Just over a year later, as an airman completing a Reserve stretch, I saw him off from Carswell AFB to Dallas on his last day. I had joined after the Cuban Missile Crisis to help him save the world. I don’t think we succeeded.” — Barry Kaplan ’70
“As I recall, the stadium was packed, and the waiting crowd was growing restive under the broiling sun. Texas was strongly Democratic then but not necessarily friendly toward JFK’s liberal politics. A small plane was circling the stadium towing a banner saying ‘Enforce the Monroe Doctrine,’ a reference to the Soviet Union’s ties to Fidel Castro’s Communist regime in Cuba. An open-top limo came out of the south end zone entry with JFK in the back seat. The crowd went wild, cheering him. It was a remarkable demonstration of his charisma before he even said a word.” — Homer Walker ’66
“I was 15 years old and rode to Rice Stadium by bicycle. When the president stood at the podium, I could see and hear him. The president’s words were an emotional and intellectual call to action for all Americans; I felt it as a deep, personal call to duty. For me, it was a direct follow-up to his inaugural address: ‘Ask what you can do for your country.’” — Terry O’Rourke ’68
“It was the first time I had seen a president. I had just entered Jack Yates Senior High School, an all-‘Negro’ school, during the Jim Crow era. A selected group of us boarded a yellow school bus to come across town. The yellow bus rolled into Rice Stadium and rolled into history as well. What is also memorable on that sunny day is President Kennedy asked, ‘Why does Rice play Texas,’ and answered, ‘because it is hard.’ His witty analogy and call to action about the difficulty of the future moonshot endeavor got my attention.” — Rodney Griffin (spouse of Jan West ’73 )
