BORN ON NOVEMBER 20, 1925: ROBERT F. KENNEDY

Eighty-Five years ago, on November 20, 1925, Robert F. Kennedy was born.

Bill Eppridge: The Kennedy campaign travels through the Watts section of Los Angeles on the last day before the primary, 1968

"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Robert F. Kennedy, Capetown, June 6th 1966

Steve Schapiro: Robert F. Kennedy Campaign, California, 1966

 "On this generation of Americans falls the full burden of providing the world that we really mean it when we say all men are created free and equal before the law. All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity." (Speech, Law Day Exercises of the University of Georgetown Law School, May 6, 1961).

Bill Eppridge: Bobby Kennedy campaigns in IN during May of 1968, with various aides and friends: former prizefighter Tony Zale and (right of Kennedy) N.F.L. stars Lamar Lundy, Rosey Grier, and Deacon Jones

 

 

 

 

The Robert F. Kennedy Center

Marilyn Monroe, Kennedys Recalled in White House Archive Sale

Bloomberg.com
By Katya Kazakina

©Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- An image of Marilyn Monroe in a skin-tight, pearl-encrusted dress flanked by President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert, then U.S. attorney general, used to be kept in an envelope tagged “Sensitive material.”

Part of a lot estimated at $4,000 to $6,000, the photograph will be sold at Bonhams in New York as part of the 12,000-image archive of Cecil Stoughton, the first official White House photographer.

Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s election, the sale is expected to fetch as much as $250,000 on Dec. 9, 2010.

“She is wearing an outrageous dress,” said Matthew Haley, historical photograph specialist at Bonhams, in a telephone interview. “We believe it’s the only picture where the three of them appear together.”

The actress, who died less than three months after the picture was taken, was romantically linked to both Kennedy brothers.

Kennedy was the first president to create an official position for a White House photographer.

Some images show Kennedy “playing golf, swimming, sailing, smoking cigars,” said Haley. “The next image would be of him addressing the Senate or the United Nations.”

Dark Day

The black-and-white Monroe photograph was taken on May 19, 1962, the day she sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to Kennedy at the packed Madison Square Garden in New York.

Bill Ray: Marilyn Monroe Singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, Madison Square Garden, NY, 1962

Bill Ray: President John F. Kennedy at his birthday party after Marilyn Monroe Sang "Happy Birthday", Madison Square Garden, NY, 1962

Another print shows Kennedy and his children John Jr. and Caroline playing in the Oval Office. The black-and-white image bears an inscription: “For Captain Stoughton -- who captured beautifully a happy moment at the White House / John F. Kennedy.” The lot has an estimated range of $7,000 to $9,000.

In other pictures, the children are “making faces, playing or sitting at a conference table where you normally expect to see statesmen and ambassadors,” said Haley.

Stoughton was traveling in the motorcade on the day Kennedy was murdered in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. His documentation of the day includes the hospital where Kennedy was rushed.

Within hours of the assassination, Stoughton took a historic shot of Lyndon B. Johnson’s swearing-in ceremony aboard Air Force One, with Jackie Kennedy, looking shell-shocked, by his side. The print’s estimated to take in $5,000 to $7,000.

“He didn’t even wait until he got to Washington to be sworn in,” said Haley. “Cecil was the only photographer present for the occasion.”

To contact the reporter of this story: Katya Kazakina in New York at kkazakina@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.

Related: 48 Years Ago, Marilyn Monroe Sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy

BILL EPPRIDGE DOCUMENTARY TRAILER TO SCREEN

Maureen Muldaur's documentary proposal for "The Eye of The Storm" has been accepted into Westdoc, the the “go-to” conference for Documentary and Reality Filmmakers." The conference takes place in Santa Monica, California, September 13 - 15.


The Eye of the Storm tells the story of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy through the eyes of five photojournalists, four of whom were in the room when he was shot. The other was still in the Embassy Ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where Bobby had just finished giving his victory speech for his win in the California Primary for President, a win that would probably take him to the White House.


Only these five photojournalists will tell the story of that night; we will experience an inherently dramatic event as it unfolds moment by moment. These five men will not only tell their personal stories as human beings but they will speak directly of that experience through being a photojournalist. Bobby was a man they had come to love and once he was shot, they had to bury their grief to perform the task at hand and chronicle a national tragedy. They had originally gone to the hotel to document a celebration but they had to use their skills instead to document one of the worst tragedies in American history.

The documentary will end when Bobby’s death was announced at 1:44am the next day at Good Samaritan Hospital.

The five photographers include:

Bill Eppridge of Life Magazine

Boris Yaro of The Los Angeles Times

Ron Bennett of UPI

David Kennerly of UPI

Richard Drew of the Pasadena Star News

Many of their photographs live on as icons of American History.

Muldaur Media filmed Bill Eppridge at the opening of  his exhibition "Bill Eppridge: An American Treasure" at Monroe Gallery of Photography, as well as in a lengthy interview over the July Fourth weekend. The exhibition continues through September 26.