JFK MEMORIAL DEDICATED IN DALLAS 45 YEARS AGO TODAY
Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) Most Americans are very familiar with the Washington Monument and the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials in the Nation's Capital, but many are most likely unaware that there is a memorial to John F. Kennedy located in the city where he died.
The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial is located one block from Dealey Plaza at 646 Main Street.
Forty-five years ago today, June 24, 1970, a memorial to the 35th President of the United States was dedicated here in Dallas. The memorial, designed by Philip Johnson*, a Kennedy family friend, is described as a cenotaph or "open tomb" symbolic of the freedom of JFK's spirit.
A marker at the memorial reads:
"The joy and excitement of JFK's life belongs to all men. So did the pain and sorrow of his death."
The Sixth Floor Museum describes Memorial Plaza as as "integral part of the city's urban landscape and cultural beauty."
The Memorial is composed of 72 white columns which "seem to float" 29 inches above the ground. A white granite square bears the name of JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY painted in gold.
The square memorial, which measures 30 feet by 50 feet. is flooded in electric light at night. It was restored on its 30th anniversary and rededicated on June 24, 2000.
*Philip Cortelyou Johnson (1906-2005) was born in Cleveland, Ohio & graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. PCJ founded the Department of Architecture & Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1930. PCJ was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1979 and designed IDS Tower, PPG Place & Crystal Cathedral.
SOURCE
"History of the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Plaza," The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, www.jfk.org/
JFK Memorial
Dallas, Texas
Photo by Jim Bower (2007)
