Newspaper Headlines

Yesterday, I brought some copies of newspapers from Kennedy's assassination to class so that my students could see some of the headlines and stories from this horrible event nearly fifty years ago.  The pages are yellowed and fragile...even preserved in the shrink-wrap and cardboard.  I wasn't yet on this earth.  Not yet a sparkle in my father's eye as they say, but it wouldn't be long as I was probably conceived sometime in March of 1964.  Of course, I was certainly not expected--but what could they do?  We were Catholic.  No birth control.  Definitely no abortion.  My parents generation remembers the assassination very clearly, as do my older siblings.  Kennedy was the first Catholic president of the United States.  I have only pictures and history to remind me of this.

All of my students were born when Bill Clinton was president.  They haven't known the assassination of a U.S. President in their lifetimes--and really, neither have I.  We've lived through the horror of 9/11, with my students being very young when that occurred.  I was 37 at the time.  I sometimes wonder if the impact of the Kennedy assassination was as heavy as that.  Judging from the newspaper headlines, I am guessing it was.  As I have observed some of the students looking at the newspapers from that time, I am struck by a couple things.  First, they aren't really that impressed.  In fact, newspapers are really a foreign thing to them.  The other day, I asked how many of them ever read a newspaper and only one responded to the question.  "I don't but my grammy does.  She old."  I've lamented the passing of the printed word in a previous blog so I won't go into that again here, but I will say this.  Back in 2001, when the September 11 events happened, I had a subscription to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. At that time the newspapers still had some relevance.  It was the only time in my life that I can recall an "extra" edition of a newspaper being printed.  I saved those papers from that day of course.

As these historical events recede in my personal rearview mirror, I'm reminded of how short this life really is.  I am grateful for an appreciation of history.  I am hopeful that I can impart even a little of that to my students.