Thursday, September 15, 1960
September 15, 1960
JFK was in Newark, New Jersey where he spent the day riding around the city in an open convertible campaigning for the Presidency.
After his campaign day was finished in Neward, JFK ventured into the solid Republican territory of central Pennsylvania. His plane arrived late at the Harrisburg-York airport (now Capital City airport) in Fairview Township. The crowd, many of them state employees who had been given the afternoon off to form a welcoming crowd, had waited patiently while Arthur Godfrey and Jonathon Winters (who just happened to be flying out of Harrisburg that day) spoke to the crowd.
Kennedy finally emerged from his plane to enthusiastic cheers. His 12 car motorcade drove up Bridge St. through New Cumberland and then over the Susquehanna to the Market Square area of Harrisburg. After giving a brief 5 minute speech, he was enveloped in the crush of people who had come out to see him.
Later Kennedy was the guest of honor at a $100 a plate fundraiser at the Zembo Mosque in Harrisburg. 9000 people attended the dinner in the unairconditioned building.
He spent the night in downtown Harrisburg at the now demolished Penn-Harris Hotel
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