Solemn events to mark JFK’s assassination planned in Dallas, Boston, Washington

DALLAS — Loose gatherings of the curious and conspiracy-minded at Dallas’ Dealey Plaza have marked past anniversaries of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, featuring everything from makeshift memorials to marching drummers.

But in the place where the president’s motorcade passed through and shots rang out on Nov. 22, 1963, a solemn ceremony on the 50th anniversary of his death designed to avoid such distractions will include brief remarks by the mayor and the tolling of church bells.

It’s an approach that will be mirrored Friday in Boston, where the JFK Library and Museum will open a small exhibit of neverbefore-displayed items from Kennedy’s state funeral and host a musical tribute that will be closed to the public, and in Washington, where President Barack Obama will meet privately at the White House with leaders and volunteers from the Kennedy-established Peace Corps program.

“It’s 50 years later and it’s also a moment to look forward to the future,” said Thomas Putnam, executive director of the library, which usually doesn’t observe the anniversary. “We want our tone to be respectful and we want it to have a certain reverence, but we also want it to be hopeful and end on this notion of what JFK stood for.”

The committee convened by current Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to plan the city’s event wanted to focus “in a positive way more on the legacy of President Kennedy,” said Ron Kirk, a former mayor and member of the panel.

Friday’s event will include readings from the president’s speeches by author David McCullough. The U.S. Naval Academy Men’s Glee Club will sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and there will be an Air Force flyover. A moment of silence will be held at 12:30 p.m., when the president was shot.