John Price thought skipping class Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, was OK, given the anticipated events of that particular day.

After all, getting a glimpse of then-President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, departing Air Force One after arriving at Dallas is something he can still picture in his mind.

“I can still remember watching the president and Jackie coming down the steps,” Price said.

They were met by a crowd of others, waving furiously with excitement.

Price and a friend had ditched class at Southern Methodist University’s seminary to see the spectacle. When the two decided to leave, they were stopped to make way for the Kennedys’ car.

“To think his car drove right by us – it was right there,” said Price, motioning with his hands, “on the way to the parade – where he died. We, of course, didn’t know about it until we got back to campus.”

The day of Kennedy’s assassination was a “rough day” for Dallas and the nation, Price recalls, and an especially bittersweet day for himself, because it was the day he went on a first date with his wife, Elizabeth.

Air Force One, carrying the man who had been suddenly thrust into presidency – Lyndon Johnson – “flew right over us” while they were having dinner, he said, en route to Washington after a day of activity that had sent the nation into a tailspin.

“This is an icon of the experience,” Price said as he held up an old poster promoting Kennedy and Johnson as candidates. “The item itself is an icon of experience that was important in my life.”

On Thursday, Price – a retired Methodist minister and current Cherokee County Democratic Party chairman – spoke during a Tahlequah Friends of the Library presentation. He introduced the crowd to hundreds of political memorabilia items, including posters, matches, watches, bumper stickers, newspaper clippings, books and buttons dating back as far as 1859.

“I’m embarrassed that turnout in our national elections are so low,” Price said. “I think our kids need to be engaged in the process.”

Generations past were involved through these items, said Price, but today, young voters are often introduced to politics through other media, like the Internet. That’s OK, he says – whatever it takes to draw involvement.

He read a letter his daughter had, at age 13, written to President Ronald Reagan, evidently following up on an earlier correspondence. She addressed her opinions of the arms race of the time. His daughter signed the letter, and also added a postscript at the bottom, referring to the first letter: “I’m sorry about signing my letter ‘unrespectfully yours.’”

“She was engaged in two ways,” said Price, “[because] she was also learning how you relate to the president of the U.S.”

His collection of historic political items includes a book from 1859 introducing a list of men with the potential of being named president during an 1860 election – men frequently written of in history books, and others whom many people today may never have heard of.