By Tom McClimon
June 28, 2010

Stating that his spirit "still lives with us," Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran joined with Bill Purcell, the former Nashville mayor and now Director of the Institute of Politics at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, in announcing activities being planned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's inauguration.

Taking place during the upcoming Winter Meeting of the Conference of Mayors on January 20, 2011, the events will include a program at the US Capitol and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The main activity will be mayors locally in their communities hosting programs at schools to talk to young people about the importance of public service. Curriculum materials are currently being developed and mayors- offices will be contacted later this summer. "We hope these local programs will help to reignite the imagination of Americans, especially our young people," stated Purcell.

In a video originally produced for the Conference of Mayors 75th anniversary a few years ago and shown as part of this program, it was noted that President Kennedy first addressed the nation on civil rights at the Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting in Honolulu in June 1963. The Conference of Mayors has been a leader in civil rights ever since.