The Inauguration of John F. Kennedy

Object Details

Exhibition Label

During the third week of January 1961, preparations began for the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as Washington braced itself for a snowstorm. On Thursday, January 19, the temperature dropped, the wind picked up, and it began snowing hard. Typically for the capital, streets were unplowed, and cars were abandoned. On Pennsylvania Avenue, workmen struggled to clear the parade route, and soldiers used flame throwers to melt the ice around the inaugural stand. The snow stopped before dawn on January 20. Inauguration Day was bitterly cold and windy but sunny. In the traditional ritual of the transfer of power, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy rode together in a limousine to the Capitol. At twenty minutes after noon, the ceremonies began.

Data Source

National Portrait Gallery

Artist

Bill Ray, 16 Feb 1936 - 9 Jan 2020

Sitter

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 29 May 1917 - 22 Nov 1963

Lyndon Baines Johnson, 27 Aug 1908 - 22 Jan 1973

Date

1961

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image: 22.2 x 32.8cm (8 3/4 x 12 15/16")

Sheet: 27.7 x 35.4cm (10 7/8 x 13 15/16")

Mat: 55.9 x 71.1cm (22 x 28")

Type

Photograph