Following the Nov. 22, 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, The Daily Cardinal chronicled the community's reaction to the tragedy.
The Daily Cardinal Archives presents this portrait of the campus, penned by Cardinal reporter John Gruber in the days following the assassination.
\State Street was kind of quiet Friday night'if you didn't know what happened in the afternoon you might have thought it was because of the driving rain which pelted the pavement.
But that rain was only a symbol of the blackest day in American history since the death of Franklin Roosevelt in 1945.
Now, 18 years later, another President was dead'John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
This time it was different'especially in a town like Madison at a university like Wisconsin.
'He gave me an ideal, and now ... there's nothing left, nothing ...'
To this college generation, if Mr. Kennedy was nothing else he was the symbol of vigor, intelligence and fast-paced activity'a get up and go'which made students look up to him.
And what happened when the news of his death came ...
It was crowded in the Rat Friday afternoon'but the noise was only a hushed murmur which swept through the Rat.
Most people stood in the main aisle'they watched a TV screen which told them what they really couldn't believe'and still can't believe'the president was dead.
What did they talk about?
'You remember that picture of him and John Jr. in last week's Look?'
Some talked about the Negro.
'Things have been changed a little bit now...'
Some talked about getting rides home'not many, but some.
Some wondered ...""
