JFK & Detroit’s Black Leaders

Posted on by farlane
JFK in Detroit, Sept 4, 1960 by Bob

JFK in Detroit, Sept 4, 1960 by Bob

Since it’s both President’s Day & Black History Month, here’s some of both courtesy Michigan Advance who shared that in addition to President John F. Kennedy’s very public appearance in Detroit’s Labor Day parade in 1960, a little known meeting in June of 1960 with a group of Detroit’s Black leaders may have been what boosted him to victory over Nixon:

Some Detroiters point to a little known June 1960 private meeting that pushed Kennedy over the top with the growing African American demographic in Michigan and throughout the Midwest.

A group of Detroit Black Democratic leaders that included UAW official Horace Sheffield Jr., business owner Forrest Green, longtime Democratic stalwart Joseph Coles and Detroit Common Council member William Patrick Jr. met with Kennedy at his home. The event was set up by Williams, Michigan’s popular governor.

Kennedy flew to the party on a private plane, according to Saul Green, Forrest’s son and future U.S. attorney for Michigan’s Eastern District. “[Kennedy] had an opportunity to gather these respected Black thought leaders to help make his case [for the presidency],” recalled Green, who was a 12-year-old Tappan Junior High student at the time.

There, they urged the Massachusetts U.S senator to adopt a stronger civil rights platform.The Rev. Horace Sheffield III said his father made the case “What are you going to do for Black folks?” said Sheffield III about the question that his father likely had for Kennedy.

Head over to the Michigan Advance for more including a great photo.

Bob says that he was there that Labor Day. See more in his Detroit gallery & follow him on Flickr for his latest.

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JFK and the X-100

Posted on by farlane

Kennedy Assassination Car

Kennedy Assassination Car, photo by Mr. History

As everyone is no doubt aware, today is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The Henry Ford in Dearborn has a feature entitled JFK Remembered: The X-100 that begins:

The car, code named X-100, started life as a stock Lincoln convertible at Ford Motor Company’s Wixom, Michigan, assembly plant. Hess & Eisenhardt, of Cincinnati, Ohio, stretched the car by 3½ feet and added steps for Secret Service agents, a siren, flashing lights and other accessories. Removable clear plastic roof panels protected the president from inclement weather while maintaining his visibility. The car was not armored, and the roof panels were not bulletproof. The modified limo cost nearly $200,000 (the equivalent of $1.5 million today), but Ford leased it to the White House for a nominal $500 a year.

It was a perfect marriage between car and passenger. The Lincoln’s clean, modern lines broke away from the showy chrome and tail fins of the pervious decade, and they seemed to mirror the young president’s turn toward a “New Frontier.” Kennedy used the limo many times during his thousand days in office, and it became tied to him in the public consciousness even before the tragedy in Dallas.

You can read much more about the X-100, which served Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter before being retired in 1977 and see a lot of photos at The Henry Ford.

Check this photo out background big and see more in Bob’s Automobiles slideshow.

Many more cars and lots more history on Michigan in Pictures.