The Seraphin family was looking forward to taking a break from work and enjoying some turkey. It was a brisk Friday in 1963 with a high of 51°F when 11th grader Bob Seraphin crawled out of bed and headed to Olney High School in northern Philadelphia.
Seraphin was closing in on the end of the school week when shortly after 1:30 the students were told they were going home. Confusion reigned over the high school as students packed up their bags and headed out towards the buses that would bring them home. Seraphin stopped to talk to a crossing-guard on his way out.
President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, Texas, he was told. The bus ride home was somber. The high school students on the bus were very subdued.
Once home, Seraphin rushed to his television and heard the news, “White House press secretary…Malcolm Kilda…has just announced…that President Kennedy…died at approximately one o’clock central standard time which is about 35 minutes ago.” Seraphin’s family idolized Kennedy, and his mind drifted to his parents, both politically active in the Democratic Party.
The next morning the headline “PRESIDENT SLAIN BY ASSASSIN” was plastered on the Philadelphia Daily News. Still, the people of Philadelphia rallied and made sure everyone felt supported. “I think everyone was somewhat confused by it.” The Seraphin family and their neighbors would visit each other as a form of support and long discussions would occur night after night in a futile attempt to make sense of the assassination. Not a soul dared to take their eyes off the TV screen as the funeral approached.
Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and charged with the assassination. Before his case could come to trial he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby while being transported to Dallas County Jail. Ruby claimed he was distraught over the Kennedy assassination and was taking revenge.
Four and a half years later, with the memories of November 22nd 1963 still burned in his mind, Seraphin would watch the news reveal the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.
This time Seraphin was over 21 and prepared to deal with it.End Notes
Interview with Robert Seraphin.
NBC News coverage of Kennedy assassination.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-rXaWQkUDk
Weather Information from http://www.wunderground.com/history/.
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