 On September 12, 1962 President John F. Kennedy told those in attendance at Rice University that the goal of the United States would be to put a person on the Moon by the end of the decade.
Kennedy stated: “I am delighted that this university is playing a part in putting a man on the moon as part of a great national effort of the United States of America. Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, ‘Because it is there.’ Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there.” The fact that National Aeronautics and Space Administration met Kennedy’s challenge when Neil Armstrong became the first person to step on the Moon on July 20, 1969 served to cement the image of Kennedy as a visionary leader. It is in this visionary spirit that defines, in part, the Kennedy legacy. In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of his inauguration as president of the United States, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library has rekindled Kennedy’s forward thinking legacy by unveiling the largest online digitized presidential archives. Utilizing advances in hardware and software, the most important papers, records, photographs and recordings from Kennedy's time in office are available online. It was the work of four corporations—AT&T, EMC, Iron Mountain and Raytheon—that collaborated to create the hardware and software needed to make this groundbreaking digitization possible.
“This new Kennedy Library digital archives includes more than 200,000 digitized documents, the drafts of every speech delivered by the president, thousands of official white House photographs, and audio of all of President Kennedy's speeches and video of press conferences during his years in office,” said David S. Ferriero, archivist of the United States. With no cost or membership requirement to the user, what was once reserved for historians with access to travel and the patients to seek out documents one by one is now a click away to anyone who possesses the curiosity about a time in our history when the nation and world were navigating in new and unpredictable waters. Communities as diverse as Oakland, Duluth, and St. Petersburg, along with those in between, have an opportunity to view up close a time when the Cold War became colder and streets of Birmingham became hotter.
One can listen to high-level discussions in late August 1963 that eventually led to the fall of South Vietnamese President Diem or Kennedy seeking advice from former President Dwight Eisenhower during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which includes unexpected levity, in October 1962.
There are thousands of oral interviews; some were conducted less than a year after Kennedy’s assassination.
One can quickly locate Kennedy’s original draft of his inauguration address as he struggled to get words right in his now famous “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” to esoteric pieces of historical information to the index cards he used to phonetically spell out “ich bin ein Berliner” as he spoke to the people of Berlin in June 1963.
By accessing the digitized library one is transported into the Oval Office, eaves dropping as crucial decisions concerning war, peace, and civil rights were decided.
Caroline Kennedy, JFK’s last surviving child, stated at the unveiling of the digital library:
“In our increasingly fragmented society, young people are often disconnected and disillusioned with politics. President Kennedy's example, his words, his spirit, are more relevant than ever.”
“Using today's technology, we will be able to give today's generation access to the historical record and challenge them to answer my father's call to service, to solve the problems of our own time,” she said.
But it is Kennedy’s own words as he accepts his party’s nomination for president in 1960 that accurately frame the purpose of digital library:
“We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier -— the frontier of the 1960's, the frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, the frontier of unfilled hopes and unfilled threats.”
The Kennedy Presidential Library places us again at a new frontier; it is one that I sincerely hope is replicated by other presidential libraries.
This is the type of technological advance that has the potential to close achievements gaps, spark curiosity, and enhance lifelong learning, all of which can only serve to make us a better and stronger nation.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Post a Comment. 
