Calling on readers to bring RFK back to life

On May 29, 2008, The Sun will publish 40th anniversary coverage of Robert F. Kennedy's visit to San Bernardino.

What makes this especially exciting is that we are asking you, the readers, to contribute to the story.

The Sun will reproduce photos, videos and written reflections from that day in a comprehensive online historical database. Imagine hundreds of never-before publicized photos and/or videos suddenly accessible to the public. Also, we encourage you to share your thoughts and reflections in written form.

Below is a shot from our archives of RFK intermingling with West side residents on Base Line.

We will basically be creating an interactive Web site commemorating the day, and contributing to our understanding of this important history.

Photos can be emailed or mailed U.S. post, in which case they'll be copied and returned. If you have photos, videos or memories of RFK's jaunt through San Bernardino May 29, 1968, call reporter Robert Rogers at (909) 386-3855 or email photos, written memories or queries to robert.rogers@inlandnewspapers.com

Below is a taste of what the coverage will be like May 29

SAN BERNARDINO -- Riding a seemingly inexorable wave of momentum through the nations largest state, Robert F. Kennedy swept through San Bernardino on May 29, 1968.

It was just a few hours of a single day, but it left thousands with indelible memories.
The Sun is looking not only to revisit memories of that day this May 29, the 40th anniversary, but contribute to a fuller picture that not only makes vivid again the mental images for those who were there, but a deeper understanding for those who were not.

On May 29, an extended story with eyewitness interviews will be paired with a handful of archived newspaper photographs of Kennedy, his wife Ethel, and the jubilant crowds that greeted them that day.

Our hope is that you - residents and readers - who have memories, photos and videos of that day will share them with us so that we can assemble on online, historical database on our Web site.

Just one week after sweeping through San Bernardino, in a Los Angeles hotel, the euphoria would be dashed in a grainy televised haze of gunshots, screams, acrid burnt powder and screams.

But Kennedy's trek through San Bernardino lives on, if under a tragic pall that has never completely lifted.

His motorcade had steered first into the city's impoverished, minority West side, a powerful testament to his devotion to the underprivileged.

While motoring down Mount Vernon avenue and surrounding streets, the cars slowed to a crawl and the candidate, as had become his awe-inspiring custom, plunged his body into the clutching hands of supporters.

Photos from newspapers published the next day reveal the bustling, electric quality of the visit, as Kennedy's shirt was stretched and untucked by the gauntlet of loving hands that clutched at him.

Kennedy's route would culminate at Pioneer Park, now the site of Feldheym Library, where Kennedy delivered a speech to thousands.

The headline in the May 30, 1968 issue of The Sun read: "Huge S.B. Turnout Buoys Kennedy Election Hopes."

The second paragraph crystalized the mood of the city and country in that moment of history: "Kennedy, with his presidential hopes on the line in the California primary Tuesday, drew the loudest applause when he promised he wouldn't be satisfied until the Vietnam 'war is over and American soldiers brought home.'"