"The one thing that Bobby Kennedy emphasized for me at that time was the belief that every person could make a difference," he said.
"That resonated all the way down to the smallest corner in the ghettos of Baltimore."
Crowds gathered in Baltimore neighborhoods for a glimpse of the train that carried Kennedy's body to Washington and burial in Arlington national Cemetery.
As the eldest of Robert and Ethel Kennedy's 11 children, Townsend has clear memories of her father, including accompanying him to Senate hearings when she was a young child.
When her uncle was assassinated, Kathleen was 12. Shortly after, her father wrote her a letter she has framed and hung in her front hall. It said:
"As the eldest of the Kennedy grandchildren, you have a special responsibility to Joe and John and to all the grandchildren and the country. Be kind to others and serve our country. Love, Daddy."
"What's interesting and really amazing about that letter is the lack of bitterness and anger and resentment," she said. "What is more compelling about that letter, even more so than 'work for your country' is 'move forward.' Don't choose anger. It is a very strong message."
In recent speeches, Townsend vividly recalls the last time she saw her father, during a visit to her Vermont high school in February 1968. They went skiing. They discussed her latest assignments. He also addressed students about the war and talked about conditions on Indian reservations. His message: get involved.
After he was killed, she spent a summer on a Navajo reservation tutoring in English and building a science center out of handmade adobe bricks.
Now a married mother of four daughters, Townsend lives in Baltimore County. She teaches at Georgetown University, serves on various boards and remains fixed on her father's belief in politics as the highest of callings.
"What I was most struck with was his notion of democracy," she said.
"His notion that government is not something that does things to you, but for you. He had this wonderful heart, but what he understood is if you are going to have real change, you need to change the laws, you need to change politics."
kelly.brewington@baltsun.com
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Find a story and multimedia presentation about a photographer who covered Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign at baltimoresun.com/eppridge
ROBERT F. KENNEDY
Robert F. Kennedy
Born: Nov. 25, 1925
Died: June 6, 1968
Family: Brother of President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. His 11 children with wife, Ethel, include Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Maryland's first female lieutenant governor.
Experience: Managed his brother's 1960 presidential campaign; served as U.S. attorney general from 1961 to 1964, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York.
Presidential campaign: Announced candidacy for Democratic nomination in 1968, campaigning on an end to poverty, racial and ethnic divisions, and the Vietnam War. Won a string of primaries culminating with the California primary on June 4, 1968. Was shot by Sirhan Sirhan after a victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Burial site: Arlington Cemetery, near grave site of President Kennedy
In his words: "Some men see things as they are and ask 'Why?' I dream things that never were and ask 'Why not?'"
