U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited Amherst College on October 26, 1963 for the ground¬breaking of the Robert Frost Library. The groundbreaking was part of a special alumni weekend that also included a convocation at which President Kennedy and poet Archibald MacLeish were awarded honorary doctor of laws degrees. Both Kennedy and MacLeish spoke at the convocation and Kennedy also spoke later that afternoon at the groundbreaking. On both occasions his remarks were addressed to the significance of Robert Frost and of the arts for the United States and for the world.

The event turned out to be one of President Kennedy's last public appearances before he was assassinated in November. An estimated 10,000 people were on campus that day to witness the events.

The Robert Frost Library was formally dedicated on October 24, 1965.