Videos

Carl Snyder on John F. Kennedy
Kennedy Era: 2002

University of Miami Chemistry Dept. professor Carl H. Snyder recalls the post-World War II era, when people felt that they could enjoy the fruits of victory, relax, and learn to play golf. He remembers the excitement Americans felt when Kennedy gave his pro-space exploration speech to Congress ("I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon:). He asks the students in the audience if they could imagine such excitement being provoked by 2002’s president and whether they think they are better than the students of the 1960s; he expresses his own belief that they are. He refers to University of Miami president Donna Shalala’s speech about the Peace Corps and asks whether anyone is saying, "John F. Kennedy, we need you today."
Time: 9 min 22 sec

David Graf on the 1960s
Kennedy Era: 2002

David Graf, Professor of History and Director of the Program in Classical Studies, gives an autobiographical sketch and memories of the 1960s. In 1967, he joined McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and recalls seeing hippies smoking marijuana nearby and also having the Seminary taken over by gangs. Graf recollects the civil rights organization, FIGHT (Freedom-Integration-God-Honor-Today), which targeted the Eastman Kodak Company for not hiring minorities. The day after his 30th birthday, Dec. 4, 1969, heavily armed Chicago police, led by Cook County State's Attorney Edward Hanrahan, stormed the apartment rented by Black Panther Party members and gunned down Fred Hampton and Mark Clark; he later was invited to visit the house where they were murdered, and reports that the place was soaked with blood. As a result, Graf left the seminary and eventually became a professional historian.
Time: 9 min 22 sec

Donna Shalala on the Peace Corps
Kennedy Era: 2002

University of Miami President Donna Shalala gives her opinion that young people are good at organizing and at volunteering. She says that the Peace Corps symbolizes the Kennedy Era "because it was an era of youth and of energy and of eloquence and language" and patriotism. Shalala explains that she loves higher education because she believes young people are important, because their energy makes a difference. She estimates how most Peace Corps volunteers ended up, many of them leaders in their fields. She is asked to answer questions, but there the video is cut off.
Time: 2 min 47 sec