A Portrait of America: Watching Robert F. Kennedy's Funeral Train Pass By
Following the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, his body was taken to New York City for a funeral mass in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. After the completion of the mass, Kennedy’s coffin was transported by a private funeral train from New York to Washington, D.C., to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on June 8.
It was a Saturday, and mourners came out by the hundreds of thousands to line the tracks along the 225-mile journey. A trip that would normally have taken four hours ended up lasting more than eight hours. On board the train that day, on assignment for LOOKmagazine, was staff photographer Paul Fusco, who ended up taking thousands of photographs of mourning faces, tributes, and patriotic displays along the way. The collection of photographs ended up becoming more than a document of Kennedy’s final journey; they became a powerful collective portrait of America at a pivotal moment in history. Gathered below, images of that trip from the LOOK Magazine Collection in the Library of Congress.
It was a Saturday, and mourners came out by the hundreds of thousands to line the tracks along the 225-mile journey. A trip that would normally have taken four hours ended up lasting more than eight hours. On board the train that day, on assignment for LOOKmagazine, was staff photographer Paul Fusco, who ended up taking thousands of photographs of mourning faces, tributes, and patriotic displays along the way. The collection of photographs ended up becoming more than a document of Kennedy’s final journey; they became a powerful collective portrait of America at a pivotal moment in history. Gathered below, images of that trip from the LOOK Magazine Collection in the Library of Congress.
HINTS: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.
Mourners line the tracks to bid farewell to Robert F. Kennedy as his funeral train passes on its way from New York City to Washington, D.C., on June 8, 1968. #
Members of the Elizabeth Firing Squad stand at attention among residents at the train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, as the funeral train passes on June 8, 1968. #
Elizabeth, New Jersey, June 8, 1968. #
The funeral train rolls through Princeton Junction, New Jersey, on June 8, 1968. Several people hold portraits of Robert F. Kennedy, including a man whose poster reads "Seek a Newer World." #
Bristol, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1968. #
Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1968. #
People fill North Philadelphia station as the train passes on June 8, 1968. #
North Philadelphia station on June 8, 1968. #
North Philadelphia station on June 8, 1968. #
A sign is held up as the funeral train passes through Charlestown, Maryland, on June 8, 1968. #
Baltimore, Maryland, on June 8, 1968. #
Baltimore, Maryland, on June 8, 1968. #
People wave and salute as Robert F. Kennedy's funeral train travels past, rolling from New York City to Washington, D.C., on June 8, 1968. #
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten