November 1963

I took this photo in November of 1963.  I had just turned thirteen and took this with a Brownie Starflash camera my parents had given me.

This photo was much on my mind yesterday as I watched the inauguration of Barack Obama, and not only because I was standing on the grounds of the capitol when I took it.

This camera man was standing vigil on the scene as John Kennedy's body lay in state.  My family and I had been among the thousands lined up along Constitution Avenue just hours before as Kennedy's funeral cortege marched solemnly up the street to the accompaniment of muffled drums.

The Civil ights Act had not yet been passed.  The Voting Rights Act was still to come.  The nation faced uncertainty, dread and unspeakable loss.

Yesterday the crowds were again lining the streets and filling the mall in D.C. -- In so many ways, I felt that our nation had finally turned a corner that had just come into sight in November of 1963.