Description:

Kennedy John 1917 - 1963 Incredible photo of President Kennedy with Ernie Davis!

Glossy black and white photo, 10" x 8", depicting Ernie Davis, and President John Kennedy, with two others from the Syracuse Football team. Folds at top right and bottom left corners, otherwise near fine condition.


A heartwarming photo taken when JFK met with Ernie Davis when he was awarded the Heisman trophy. Davis had become the first black athlete to be awarded the Heisman Trophy (the highest individual honor in collegiate football) who also won the Walter Camp Memorial Trophy following his 1961 senior-year season at Syracuse University. President John Kennedy had followed Davis' career and requested to meet him while he was in New York to receive the trophy. Kennedy sent a telegram, reading:

Seldom has an athlete been more deserving of such a tribute. Your high standards of performance on the field and off the field, reflect the finest qualities of competition, sportsmanship and citizenship. The nation has bestowed upon you its highest awards for your athletic achievements. It's a privilege for me to address you tonight as an outstanding American, and as a worthy example of our youth. I salute you.

Both men were perceived as engines of American hope and vigor. It was a monumental period in our history with racial tensions in the forefront.. "He was the star, but he was black. You're the greatest cat, but you're inferior. On one level, you're the greatest; the other level, you can't eat at a restaurant."

And in incredible irony, both men, in a manner beyond imagination to those who watched them shake hands, would be gone within two years: Davis would die of leukemia, while Kennedy would be shot to death in Dallas.

An absolutely precious photo depicting two men whose legacy stood for hope and change.

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