Paul Fusco and the RFK Funeral Train - a remembrance.
June 4 - 11, 2026
Every year at this time, we honor the memory and legacy of two extraordinary individuals, Robert F. Kennedy and the photographer Paul Fusco. Kennedy was assassinated on June 5, 1968, and on June 8, as the nation mourned the tragedy, a funeral train was arranged to take Kennedy’s body from New York to Washington D.C. and then to
Arlington where he would be buried next to his brother.
Paul Fusco was on the train on assignment for LOOK Magazine and as the train made its way to Washington, Fusco photographed the hundreds of thousands of Americans who gathered along the tracks—families, workers, children, on their own and in groups, of every color and every religion, united in grief. These images remain among the most powerful visual records of a nation reflecting on its ideals and reckoning with its future.
Robert Kennedy's vision of justice and compassion, along with Paul Fusco's extraordinary ability to create indelible images, continue to resonate today. These 20 images out of the many hundreds Fusco shot on the day celebrate the enduring power of photography to preserve history while reminding us of the importance of individuals committed to human rights.