JFK SPOKE AT VANDERBILT 51 YEARS AGO TODAY
Nashville (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy gave the commencement address to the faculty and graduates of Vanderbilt University* here in Nashville 51 years ago today, May 18, 1963.
The President was the honored participant in the 90th commencement exercises held at Dudley Field on the campus just west of downtown Nashville.
More than 30,000 people attended the event with the President's address beginning at 11:10 a.m. Central time. Other guests included Tennessee senators Estes Kefauver and Albert Gore, Sr.,Tennessee Congressmen Richard R. Fulton, Joe L. Evans, Ross Bass, Robert A. Everett, and Tom Murray.
The day of the Vanderbilt commencement was also the 30th anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Guests included members of the Army Corps of Engineers of the Tennessee Valley.
The President began his address by thanking the Governor of Tennessee, Frank G. Clement, and the Mayor of Nashville, Beverly Briley, as well as the people of the city and state "for a very generous welcome."
JFK said...
"Vanderbilt University...has grown from a small Tennessee university...to one of our Nation's greatest, with 7 different colleges, and with more than half of its 4200 students from outside...the state."
The President also paid tribute to the TVA, which he said...
"transformed a parched, depressed, and flood-ravaged region into a fertile, productive center of industry, science and agriculture."
JFK also acknowledged the contributions of...
"a great Tennessee statesman, Cordell Hull, the father of reciprocal trade (and) the Secretary of State (under FDR)..."
The President also paid recognition to J. Percy Priest who represented the Nashville area in Congress for 16 years and who was a former colleague.**
*Vanderbilt University, founded in 1873, was named for Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt who hoped his $1 million endowment would help heal the wounds between the North and South brought by the Civil War.
In 2012, VU was ranked 17th among all universities in the United States and #1 in the fields of special education, audiology and educational administration.
**James Percy Priest (1900-1956) was a member of the US Congress from 1941 to 1956. He was born in Maury County, Tennessee and was a graduate of the State Teachers College in Murfreesboro (now MTSU) and Peabody College in Nashville (now Vanderbilt).
Priest was 1 of 3 Tennessee congressmen who did not sign the Southern Manifesto condemning the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954.
J. Percy Priest
Harris and Ewing Photo
Library of Congress image
President Kennedy said...
"We live in an age of movement and change, both evolutionary and revolutionary, both good and evil--and in such an age a university has a special obligation to hold fast to the best of the past and move fast to the best of the future."
The President continued...
"The essence of Vanderbilt is still learning. The essence of its outlook is still liberty. And liberty and learning will and must be the touchstones of any free university in this country.
For liberty without learning is always in peril and learning without liberty is always in vain."
JFK called upon the graduates of Vanderbilt...
"to enter the lists of public service....for we can have only one form of aristocracy in this country."
The President concluded his remarks with these words...
"90 years from now, I have no doubt, that Vanderbilt....will...still be teaching the truth--the truth that makes us free and will keep us free."
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
Photo by John White (2011)
Nashville (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy gave the commencement address to the faculty and graduates of Vanderbilt University* here in Nashville 51 years ago today, May 18, 1963.
JFK at Vanderbilt
The President was the honored participant in the 90th commencement exercises held at Dudley Field on the campus just west of downtown Nashville.
More than 30,000 people attended the event with the President's address beginning at 11:10 a.m. Central time. Other guests included Tennessee senators Estes Kefauver and Albert Gore, Sr.,Tennessee Congressmen Richard R. Fulton, Joe L. Evans, Ross Bass, Robert A. Everett, and Tom Murray.
The day of the Vanderbilt commencement was also the 30th anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Guests included members of the Army Corps of Engineers of the Tennessee Valley.
The President began his address by thanking the Governor of Tennessee, Frank G. Clement, and the Mayor of Nashville, Beverly Briley, as well as the people of the city and state "for a very generous welcome."
JFK said...
"Vanderbilt University...has grown from a small Tennessee university...to one of our Nation's greatest, with 7 different colleges, and with more than half of its 4200 students from outside...the state."
The President also paid tribute to the TVA, which he said...
"transformed a parched, depressed, and flood-ravaged region into a fertile, productive center of industry, science and agriculture."
JFK also acknowledged the contributions of...
"a great Tennessee statesman, Cordell Hull, the father of reciprocal trade (and) the Secretary of State (under FDR)..."
The President also paid recognition to J. Percy Priest who represented the Nashville area in Congress for 16 years and who was a former colleague.**
*Vanderbilt University, founded in 1873, was named for Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt who hoped his $1 million endowment would help heal the wounds between the North and South brought by the Civil War.
In 2012, VU was ranked 17th among all universities in the United States and #1 in the fields of special education, audiology and educational administration.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Statue
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
Photo by John White (2011)
Priest was 1 of 3 Tennessee congressmen who did not sign the Southern Manifesto condemning the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954.
J. Percy Priest
Harris and Ewing Photo
Library of Congress image
President Kennedy said...
"We live in an age of movement and change, both evolutionary and revolutionary, both good and evil--and in such an age a university has a special obligation to hold fast to the best of the past and move fast to the best of the future."
The President continued...
"The essence of Vanderbilt is still learning. The essence of its outlook is still liberty. And liberty and learning will and must be the touchstones of any free university in this country.
For liberty without learning is always in peril and learning without liberty is always in vain."
"to enter the lists of public service....for we can have only one form of aristocracy in this country."
The President concluded his remarks with these words...
"90 years from now, I have no doubt, that Vanderbilt....will...still be teaching the truth--the truth that makes us free and will keep us free."
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
Photo by John White (2011)
