New Kennedys Exhibits in Boston and Cape Cod This Summer

The public’s fascination with President John F. Kennedy and his family remains strong in Massachusetts.  The native son, whose great-grandparents emigrated from Ireland to Boston during the famine in 1848, inspired generations of people around the world with his political leadership, courage, wit and wisdom.  

This summer, visitors have a chance to see brand new exhibits opening this month at two of the state’s major Kennedy destinations: the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston and the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum on Cape Cod.

Boston

“Presidential Pets” opened July 1 at JFK Library and runs through April, 2026.  The exhibit uses objects, photos, letters, recordings, film and interactive display to provide “a delightful look at how beloved pets took on roles as workers, companions, trend setters and political tools at the White House.” 

Caroline Kennedy on her pony, Macaroni, at the White House

The exhibit includes presidential pets from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to FDR, LBJ, Ronald Reagan and of course President Kennedy himself.   

In fact, the Kennedys may have been the most pet-friendly family  at the White House, with an array of  ponies and parakeets, cats and dogs, hamsters and rabbits.  JFK’s famous visit to Ireland in June 1963 only added to the menagerie, with a Connemara pony named Leprechaun sent as a gift  from President Eamon de Valera;  Shannon, a cocker spaniel from the JFK’s cousins, the Barry family of County Wexford; and Wolf, an Irish wolfhound from Father Thomas Kennedy of Dublin.

Other popular Kennedy pets shown in the exhibit included JFK’s dog Pushinka, gifted by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, and Caroline’s pony Macaroni, who grazed on the White House Lawn and became a media favorite. There’s a photo of President Abraham Lincoln’s dog Fido, considered the first documented picture of a “presidential pet.”

Located at Columbia Point in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is one of 15 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization.

Cape Cod

In Hyannis, the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum unveiled an exciting new exhibit on July 5, entitled “Paul Ryan’s 1960s,”  a collection of iconic images from an acclaimed photographer whose worked captured the zeitgeist of a generation. Curated by Ryan himself, the exhibit is on display through October 2025.  

JFK Museum Executive Director Wendy Northcross said, “We are very grateful to have this opportunity to share these special photos and stories from a tremendously dynamic era in our country’s history.” 

Ryan was born in Boston and grew up in nearby Newton, before studying photography with Minor White, Ansel Adams, and W. Eugene Smith.  He travelled the world for Ski Magazine and the Open Societies Foundation, photographing some of the most impactful thought-makers of the 1960s and 1970s.   Ryan’s cinematography credits include “Days of Heaven,” : A River Runs Through It” and “The Horse Whisperer.”

Photos in the exhibit include Robert and Ethel Kennedy and the Kennedy children, singer/songwriters Jim Morrison of the Doors and Belfast’s Van Morrison, jazzmen Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie, novelist Henry Miller and counter-cultural icon Ken Kesey.  Ryan also captures the Black Power and peace movements of the 1960s and the hippie culture, particularly in California, where Ryan settled.  

“The 60s was a fast-moving time and an exciting time to be photographing the people creating it,” says Ryan. “I had to proceed without the luxury of certainty, relying on instinct and anticipation.”

Located at 397 Main Street in downtown Hyannis, the JFK Hyannis Museum pays homage to President Kennedy and his deep connection to Cape Cod, where he spent magical summers with his parents, siblings and cousins in his youth and later with his wife Jacqueline and children Caroline and John. 

More Kennedy Landmarks 

In addition to the JFK Library in Boston and the JFK Hyannis Museum, there are dozens of Kennedy landmarks dotting the Massachusetts landscape. 

Among the most popular are the John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site in Brookline, the birthplace of JFK; the Rose Fitzgerld Kennedy Garden in Boston’s North End and the nearby Rose Kennedy Greenway, dedicated to JFK’s beloved mother Rose; JFK Park at Harvard University in Cambridge, where JFK attended college; Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate, located right next to the JFK Library in Dorchester; a Kennedy Legacy Trail in Hyannis, next to the museum, featuring landmarks pertaining to the Kennedy family; an Eternal Flame at the JFK Memorial in Springfield and JFK Memorial Plaza in Holyoke.

Finally, the Massachusetts State House has a striking front lawn statue of President Kennedy in full, purposeful stride, and inside the state house, there is an inscription of JFK’s famous “City on a Hill” speech, delivered just prior to him taking office as the nation’s 35th president. 

Find additional information on the Kennedy Family at  irishboston.org/kennedy

Additional Exhibits

JFK Library/Boston

• Young Jack              
• JFK Meets the Press
• Lift Off! US Space Program
• The 1960 Presidential Election
• First Lady: Jacqueline Kennedy 

JFK Museum/Hyannis

• Three Miles in Galway Documentary
• We Remember John F. Kennedy, Jr. 
• Presidential Summers on Cape Cod
• RFK: Ripple of Hope 
• JFK at 100: Life and Legacy