Close
Not finding the information you're looking for? Please contact the Archives research staff.
Sound recording
White House Audio Collection
JFKWHA-184-002
Sound recording of President John F. Kennedy’s remarks for radio and television regarding the renewal of racial strife in Birmingham, Alabama. In his address the President condemns the bombings, rioting, and general violence of the previous evening and calls for all Birmingham citizens to put an end to the strife. The President also announces that the government will do what is necessary to preserve the peace and that, if needed, the Alabama National Guard is ready for service.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-MTG-088-006
Sound recording of a meeting held on May 21, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Chairman of the Civil Service Commission John Macy, and the following members of the President’s Committee on Equal Opportunity in Housing: Chief Benefits Director for the Veterans Administration’s Department of Veterans Benefits Cyril F. Brickfield, Philip Brownstein of Farmers Home Administration, Jack Conway of the Industrial Union Department of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), John Dervan of the Veteran’s Administration, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Deputy Administrator of Veterans Affairs for the Veterans Administration William Driver, Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, Administrator of Veterans Affairs for the Veteran’s Administration John S. Gleason, Floyd Micree of Farmers Home Administration, Theodore Jones of the Supreme Life Insurance Co; Advisor Ferdinand Kramer, Joseph McMurray of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Cyril Magnin, Assistant Attorney General from the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division Burke Marshall, Associate Deputy Administrator of Veterans Affairs for the Veterans Administration A.H. Monk, John Nolan from the Department of Justice, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense John J. Reed, Joseph Robertson from the Department of Agriculture, Advisor Roland Sawyer, William Seabron from the Department of Agriculture, Milton Semer from the Housing and Home Finance Agency, Simon Trevas from the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Robert Weaver from the Housing and Home Finance Agency, Advisor Lewis Weinstein, Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury Robert A. Wallace, and Special Assistant to the President David L. Lawrence. The meeting centers on Robert Kennedy and John Macy’s report to the President’s Commission on Equal Opportunity in Housing and to the President. The report concerned civil rights issues in Birmingham, Alabama, and federal involvement in the area. Mr. Macy also reports in detail the number of minority federal employees in the Alabama area, and there is discussion of how to increase this number. Please note that the recording of this meeting was previously made available in the Civil Rights 1963 release in the 1980s. This sound recording has been excerpted from Tape 88, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding this one. See Related Records to access Tape 88 in its entirety.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-MTG-085-002
Sound recording of a meeting held on May 4, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and his guests, twenty members of the organization Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) present for a lobbying session. The President takes the opportunity to pitch the successes of his administration’s legislative agenda to this liberal action group that on occasion had been critical of some of the moves of his administration. Earlier that day the New York Times ran an Associated Press photograph by Bill Hudson of a police dog lunging at a civil rights protester in Birmingham, Alabama. The President comments on the shock of the photograph at several points during the meeting and states with frustration, “I mean what law can you pass to do anything about police power in the community of Birmingham? There is nothing we can do… The fact of the matter is that Birmingham is in worse shape than any other city in the United States and it’s been that way for a year and a half… I think it’s terrible the picture in the paper. The fact of the matter that’s just what (Bull) Connor wants. And ah, as I say, Birmingham is the worst city in the south. They have done nothing for the Negroes in that community, so it is an intolerable situation, that there is no argument about.” The President goes on to pointedly comment that in a recent meeting with a newspaperman, the reporter commented, "‘Isn’t it outrageous in Birmingham’ and I said, 'Why are you over there eating at the Metropolitan Club every day? You talk about Birmingham and you’re up there at the Metropolitan Club … they wouldn’t even let Negro ambassadors in.’ So now he (the reporter) said, ‘Well we want to work from the inside,’ and I said, ‘Well your one contribution is that now they won’t let white ambassadors in.’ (laughter) Most of your novelists that you read every day… they’re all over there at the Metropolitan Club… so I think that we have worked hard on civil rights. I think it is a national crisis." This sound recording has been excerpted from Tape 85, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding and following this one. See Related Records to access Tape 85 in its entirety.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-MTG-113-001
Sound recording of part of a meeting held on September 23, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and several city leaders from Birmingham, Alabama, including Dr. Landon Miller, W.C. Hamilton, Caldwell Marks, Frank Newton, and Don Hawkinson. The recording of this meeting begins on Tape 112. They discuss civil rights issues in Birmingham. After this meeting, and on several other portions of this tape, the recording machine was left on and there is over an hour’s worth of recorded office noises, hallway conversations, and partial conversations with little or no substance. This sound recording has been excerpted from Tape 113, which contains additional sound recording(s) following this one. See Related Records to access Tape 113 in its entirety or the beginning of this recording on Tape 112. Please note that this meeting was previously made available for review in 1984.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-MTG-112-003
Sound recording of three meetings. The first is a Cabinet meeting held on September 23, 1963, during which members of several departments brief President John F. Kennedy and each other on topics of particular interest, including private wheat sales to the Soviet Union and relevant political issues, Secretary McNamara and General Taylor's mission to South Vietnam, federal employment, and the economic outlook heading into 1964. Meeting participants include President Kennedy; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara; Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon; Acting Secretary of State George Ball; Herbert Miller for the Attorney General; Acting Postmaster General Sidney Bishop; Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall; Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman; Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges; Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz; Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Anthony Celebrezze; Director of the Bureau of the Budget Kermit Gordon; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner; Special Assistant to the President Timothy J. ("Ted") Reardon; Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy; and Special Counsel to the President Ted Sorensen.Second is a brief meeting on civil rights held on September 23, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division Burke Marshall. One segment of this recording totaling 16 seconds has been removed in accordance with Section 3.4 (b) (1), (3) of Executive Order 13526.
Third is part of a meeting held on September 23, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and several city leaders from Birmingham, Alabama, including Dr. Landon Miller, W.C. Hamilton, Caldwell Marks, Frank Newton, and Don Hawkins. They discuss civil rights issues in Birmingham. The recording of this meeting ends abruptly and continues on Tape 113. Please note that this meeting was previously made available for review in 1984.
This sound recording has been excerpted from Tape 112, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding this one. See Related Records to access Tape 112 in its entirety or the remainder of recording of the third meeting on Tape 113.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-MTG-086-002
Sound recording a meeting held on May 12, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division Burke Marshall, and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. President Kennedy and his staff discuss civil rights and the situation in Birmingham, Alabama, before the President addresses the nation later that evening. This meeting was originally opened to public use in the 1980s. The meeting begins with a short section on Cuba, which was not included in the original release. This sound recording has been excerpted from Tape 86, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding and following this one. See Related Records to access Tape 86 in its entirety.