As it had been for Eisenhower, a project to build a national cultural center was, for President John Kennedy, a strong and clear international statement.In addition to its potential role in American cultural life, it was an answer to myriad cultural activities by the Soviet Union.Kennedy emphasized that because all the great capitals of the world had a national performing arts center, Washington was sorely and obviously lacking in this regard. The National Cultural Center would fill that void and in so doing, energize the whole nation. “Everything that happens here,” he said, speaking of Washington D.C., “has its influence across the country.”
He assured the center’s board of trustees that his administration like the previous one would give the project “every possible support” but progress went forward at a snail’s pace.Hoping to energize the fund-raising campaign, early in 1962 Kennedy appointed former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy as honorary co-chairmen of the Center.In October he announced that the week after Thanksgiving would be “National Cultural Center Week” with a nationwide fundraising campaign.The highlight of the week would be a gala event on the 29th called “An American Pageant of the Arts.”
That Thursday evening was cold and clear as the formally dressed crowd gathered at the vast National Guard Armory on the east side of town near the new municipal stadium.Dinner began at 7:00 and the show at 9:30. The President and First Lady were there along with the Vice President and Mrs. Johnson.Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower joined in via closed-circuit television from Augusta, Georgia where they were vacationing.
Leonard Bernstein served as the Master of Ceremonies, while Pablo Casals, Marian Anderson, Van Cliburn, Harry Belafonte, Robert Frost, Bob Newhart, Hal Holbrook, and many others took part.A seven-year-old cello prodigy named Yo-Yo Ma performed accompanied on piano by his 11-year-old sister.The United States Navy Band played, in part because both the President and Vice President had served in the Navy during WWII.Actor Danny Kaye conducted the National Symphony Orchestra doing an imitation of Bernstein that brought the house down.Communities large and small all around the country viewed the broadcast and called in pledges.Roger Stevens, the current chairman of the Center’s board noted that while the country had been founded by people seeking freedom of thought and expression, that concern had “never been properly reflected among our national monuments here in Washington.”The Cultural Center would fix that.
The administration’s sponsorship of, and attendance at, this event was symbolic.What Kennedy was doing by his presence was demonstrating to the American people that the arts—of every sort from Bob Newhart to Yo-Yo Ma—was worthy of official attention.
