This photo was taken on March 31st, 1963. It shows the whole Kennedy clan happily spending some time together at Camp David. Caroline is on top of the horse, while little John holds his mother’s hand. Source: National Archives
This is a fascinating old photo from October 6th, 1965 at Arlington National Cemetery. The construction site shows what would eventually become JFK’s gravesite, the Eternal Flame. Source: Library of Congress
Sometimes we forget that famous people are also regular people with problems other than running a country. JFK was a young senator from Massachusetts when he lived off of Chain Bridge Road in McLean. He and his wife lived at Hickory Hill for a short period before selling the estate to his brother Bobby. We came […]
It’s that time of year, again. Commencement speakers address graduating college and university classes, and inevitably their speeches are ranked, assessed, complimented, and criticized. This year, both NPR and Vox.com have compiled the best commencement speeches ever. From the lists they created, we’ve found all the commencement addresses that happened in Washington, DC and posted them […]
Whoa, this is cool. If you haven’t seen this before, it’s a photo from 1947 when both Kennedy and Nixon were member of the House of Representatives. Kennedy looks like he’s 18 and Nixon about 23.
Exactly 50 years ago today, JFK was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Below is footage of the gun salute and the bugler playing taps.
Check out this great photo from the 1962 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It was held at the new D.C. Stadium (now RFK).
Before the Kennedy Center opening, the National Symphony Orchestra would perform at D.A.R. Constitution Hall. Below is an advertisement from The Washington Post, printed on November 22nd, 1963 with a quote from President Kennedy.
On Friday, 50 years ago, The Washington Post printed this article detailing the upcoming state visit of West Germany’s Chancellor, Ludwig Erhard. Washingtonians were reading this in the morning newspaper, the same day Kennedy was in Dallas. This visit never happened. Source: John F. Kennedy Library WEST GERMANY’S new Chancellor, Ludwig Erhard, will arrive at Langley […]
In scanning The Washington Post for November 22nd, 1963, I came across this small prayer, printed that day in section D8. It was a small block at the top right of the page and I nearly missed it, but in reading it, and placing it in the context of the day, I found it to be […]
The old Kennedy estate, Wexford, is for sale and you can have it for a cool $11 million. We came across this cool story on one of our favorite blogs, Curbed. Naturally, in Ghosts of DC fashion, we wanted a little more historic information on the property, so we uncovered the following story in The Washington […]
As Mrs. Ghost went Christmas shopping this past weekend, I decided to go for a walk to explore the streets of Georgetown. The part of town most tourists think of when Washington history is mentioned, Georgetown is home to innumerable notable people and some regular folk as well. This installment of “Three Things…” will highlight […]
Wow. This one is cool. We found this digging through the National Archives. Amazing. This is the letter John F. Kennedy sent on Inauguration Day 1961 (watch his amazing inauguration address), nominating his Cabinet.
This is great old film footage of John F Kennedy in the Oval Office. The narration is in German (I believe – correct me if I’m wrong).
On November 27th, 1962, 361 days before Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, the Prime Minister of the Somali Republic, Dr. Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, had an official state visit to the White House. We were able to dig up this obscure film footage on YouTube (the Internet is amazing), which features the visit and ceremony on the […]
If you read this piece in the Washington Post on Wednesday morning, November 20th, 1963, you probably didn’t think much of it. President Kennedy was making a trip to Texas, the Vice President’s home state. The White House explicitly stated that the event was nonpolitical, but without a doubt, there were some political undertones for […]
I received the following email the other day from a GoDCers up near AU Park and Spring Valley. Hello, I love your website. Thank you for researching DC history! I grew up in AU Park — my parents moved into their house the day President Kennedy was shot. The house 2 doors down from my […]
The new Air Force One, and the first jet in service for the president, set a new record in 1963. The Soviets claimed that the United States did not have any aircraft that could fly non-stop from Washington to Moscow. Not only did the Air Force have such an aircraft, it happened to be the […]
Here’s an interesting video I came across on YouTube. I’m not quite sure what year this is from, but I’m guessing it’s somewhere in the mid-1950s. It’s fascinating to watch the former Senator and President messing up on camera.
One of the most powerful and important inaugural addresses of all time, this is something worth watching in its entirety. The whole speech is below if you’d like to read it. This is a truly amazing and powerful speech. If you want to skip to the famous quote, start watching at 13:45. The full text […]
