Attachment_D-_JOFI_Production_Design_II-_Content.docx

Attachment D- JOFI Production Design II- Content

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Site ID John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site

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Enlarged Quote by door

“There is within each man a very special affection for the place of his birth.

—President John F. Kennedy, 1961

Source: http://npshistory.com/publications/jofi/index.htm In letter to one of the subsequent owners of the home, Martha Pollock

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Welcome Panel

A Leader of Tomorrow

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, president of the United States (1961-1963), was born in this house on May 29, 1917.

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy raised her children “to have their own ideas and learn to speak up for them.” Several of her children chose lives of public service.

As a candidate and as president, Kennedy offered a vision of America’s present and future. He came to be seen as a leader from and for the next generation: supporting civil rights and equal pay for women, celebrating arts and culture, and envisioning the first American on the moon.

Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 froze his image in the public’s memory as a young leader of tomorrow: a vision of future, progress, and hope.

Caption John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the United States, in the Oval Office, July 11, 1963.

Caption President John F. Kennedy sits at the head table with his mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, to honor advances in the field of intellectual disability, December 6, 1962.

Source: Rose Kennedy quote: Times to Remember p 93

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History and Memory panel

Recreating a Birthplace After President Kennedy’s assassination, the family repurchased this home.

To recreate her son’s birthplace, Rose Kennedy enlisted the help of interior designer Robert Luddington. Together they assembled existing family pieces, period antiques, and reproductions.

This work of furnishing the 1917 Kennedy home was an uneasy collaboration between memory and history. Rose was looking back nearly half a century to the earliest years of her four eldest children, three of whom were dead by the time she began this project.

The house you see here is not exactly as it was in 1917, but the home as Rose wanted it to be remembered. The family donated it to the National Park Service in 1969.

Rose Kennedy speaks at the dedication ceremony officially transferring this site to the National Park Service, May 29, 1969.

Rose Kennedy and her interior designer Robert Luddington stand in the bedroom where she gave birth to her son, John.

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Logistics signage

Please check backpacks and large bags in the lockers to your left.

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Enlarged quote behind desk

"Welcome to our home...This house holds many happy memories" —Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s mother

01 CONTENT GROUP 02: FOUNDATION WALL

Components

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Primary panel

A Family Foundation Rose and husband Joseph P. Kennedy had strong opinions on how to raise a family.

Both parents had high expectations and emphasized the importance of public service. Rose Kennedy was especially devout and often stopped by their local Catholic church, St. Aidan’s, with the children.

Both parents nurtured a competitive spirit. Dinner conversations were robust and political. Rose explained “for better or worse, the destiny of the world is shaped by those who can get their ideas across." Music around the piano was a family affair. Rose filled the walls with art and promoted a love of reading.

Quote “When you hold your baby in your arms for the first time and you think of all the things you can say and do to influence him it’s a tremendous responsibility.”

– Rose Kennedy

Joe Sr. holds his son, Joe Jr. behind this house, around 1917.

(Right to left) Rose with Joe Jr., John, and Rosemary.

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Primary panel

Although the rest of the basement has been modernized, this wall is a part of the house’s original foundation.

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Reading rail graphic

A Methodical Approach to Motherhood Rose Kennedy took care to raise what she considered to be the “perfect” child. She used notecards to keep track of her children’s growth and development. As a youngster, John was sickly and often confined to bed. These cards document the children’s milestones and illnesses.

All the Modern Conveniences The family foyer included a telephone—one of two—something few households had at the time. Rose described her husband as “a great telephoner. He used to telephone before we were married every night and afterward nearly every night, which was a wonderful habit.”

Activity label Please listen to the message on this replica Kennedy phone. Please DO NOT touch the phone you see on the tour!

Quote source: Perry, Barbara A. Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch. New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. P. 63 (footnoted as RK, interview by Robert Coughlan, Jan 20, 1972.

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Medical note cards and baby photo reproductions

Title Joe Jr.

Caption Joseph Patrick Kennedy “Joe Jr.”

Born July 25, 1915 The first of four boys.

Caption Like many parents, Rose carefully observed her children’s growth. This card documents Joe Jr.’s weight from ages nine to fifteen.

Title Jack Caption

John Fitzgerald Kennedy “Jack" Born May 29, 1917 The second of four boys.

Though Boston City Hospital did not usually take patients from outside the city limits, Jack, a Brookline resident, was admitted in 1920 for scarlet fever through the influence of his grandfather, a former Mayor of Boston.

Title Rosemary Caption Rose Marie Kennedy “Rosemary” Born September 13, 1918 The first of five girls.

By the time Rosemary was nine years old, the family had moved to New York. Mother Rose notes the shift in eye doctors.

Title Kick

Kathleen Kennedy "Kick" Born February 20, 1920 the second of five girls.

Rose notes her daughter Kathleen had her appendix removed in 1934. Kathleen’s brother John had had his removed three years earlier.

CONTENT GROUP 03 MURAL

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Mural wall

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Mural caption Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. sits on his car’s sideboard with Joe Jr. and young John.

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Mural quote “I looked on child-rearing not only as a work of love and duty but as a profession that was fully as interesting and challenging as any honourable profession in the world and one that demanded the best that I could bring to it.”

—Rose Kennedy

Quote source: Rose Kennedy, Times to Remember, 1974

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Mural quote “We…found [a house] we both liked and decided would suit our needs… It would have blended perfectly into most of the main streets of America.”

—Rose Kennedy

Quote source: Rose Kennedy, Times to Remember, 1974

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Primary panel

A New Home The Kennedys chose Brookline to start their family.

It was separate from crowded Boston—when the family moved in, there were still empty lots in the neighborhood. Coolidge Corner was a thriving community including St. Aidan’s Catholic church, shopping, and good schools. The city of Boston was just a streetcar ride away.

The household included Alice Michelin, a trained nursemaid, and Mary O’Donahue, who cooked, cleaned, and served dinner. Each had her own bedroom on the third floor.

With four children, and anticipating more, the family moved to a larger Brookline home in 1920.

A Kennedy family nursemaid, possibly Alice Michelin, sits on the beach with Joe Jr., around 1916.

John’s older brother Joe rides his wooden tricycle outside their Brookline home.

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Family photo 1

A studio photograph of (back) Joe Jr., Joe Sr., Rose, (front) John, Rosemary, Eunice, and Kathleen around 1923.

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Family photo 2

Caption Left to right: Rosemary, John, and Joe Jr. at Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts around 1919.

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Rose with children (left to right): Joe Jr., Rosemary, and John around 1919.

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