The Kennedys
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum is one of Boston’s most popular destinations, and welcomes local residents, school classes, convention groups and visitors from around the world to come and be inspired. Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the JFK Library sits on a 10-acre site overlooking Boston…
The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum is the ideal place to learn about the legacy of President Kennedy and his deep connection to Cape Cod, where he spent magical summers with the Kennedy family and with his wife and children. Located on Main Street in downtown Hyannis, the museum has ongoing exhibits such as “Presidential…
President John F. Kennedy’s visit to Ireland on June 26-29, 1963 was later described by his siblings as one of the most memorable and cherished parts of his presidency. Kennedy visited his ancestral family in Wexford and Limerick, and also stopped in Dublin, Cork and Galway. The trip was widely covered by the international media…
The family of President John F. Kennedy has deep roots in Massachusetts, dating to 1848, when all eight of JFK’s eight great-grandparents arrived in Boston, escaping the Irish Famine that was devastating Ireland. From Boston, Cambridge and Brookline to beautiful Cape Cod and the cities of Springfield and Holyoke in western Massachusetts, the Kennedy legacy…
United States President Jimmy Carter joined numerous elected officials, political dignitaries and members of the Kennedy family to formally dedicate the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum at Columbia Point in Boston on October 20, 1979, before seven thousand people. In addition to President Carter, participants at the ceremony included Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, John…
On August 7, 1961, President John F. Kennedy used 22 pens to sign into law the Cape Cod National Seashore. The new park, covering forty miles of beaches, ponds, marshes and uplands, created a permanent place for people to enjoy one of the nation’s great natural resources, while preventing the commercial development of the land that would have…
From the Fitzgerald Kennedy Private Collection, 1878-1946 Foreword by Caroline Kennedy Arranged and Edited by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Hachette Books 368 pages / $45.00 / October 2013 Think of this exquisite coffee-table book literally as a family album, with photos, snippets from letters, humorous asides and personal reflections. But it’s a family album…
She may be gone but she is certainly not forgotten. Rose Kennedy Fitzgerald (1890-1995), who held the Kennedy family together through tragedy and triumph for much of the 20th century, is permanently enshrined along Boston’s waterfront. Born in Boston’s North End, Rose was the daughter of Boston’s gregarious Mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and Mary Josephine Hannon. The mother of President John F. Kennedy,…
The public fascination with the Kennedy children during the John F. Kennedy administration was a world-wide phenomenon that tapped into pop culture and the advent of television during the 1960s. This special exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in Boston examines this phenomenon in detail. First Children: Caroline and John Jr. in…
The A terrific new exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis this summer reveals that Old Cape Cod magic during the height of President John F. Kennedy’s Camelot Era. Presidential Summers: The Kennedys on Cape Cod offers a curated selection of archival video, family photographs, artifacts and memorabilia that takes visitors back to a…
THE IRISH came bearing gifts on March 17, 1961, John F. Kennedy’s first St. Patrick’s Day in the White House. It’s a practice that has spanned 50+ years to this day. Online digital archives at John F. Kennedy Presidential Library which have been recently made available to the public, contain a wealth of information on President Kennedy’s…
Clockwise from top left: Sculpture by Margaret Foley; Poet Louise Guiney; Teacher Annie Sullivan, Labor Leader Margaret Foley, Matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Labor Leader Mary Kenny O’Sullivan; Special Olympics Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver; and Teacher/Astronaut Christa Corrigan McAuliffe March is Irish Heritage Month and also Women’s History Month in Massachusetts. In honor of both, here…
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (1890-1995), who held the Kennedy family together through tragedy and triumph for much of the 20th century, is permanently enshrined along Boston’s waterfront, with the Rose Kennedy Garden and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. The Rose Kennedy Garden is the first stop on Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail, a walking tour of twenty landmarks that tell three centuries of Boston Irish…
An exhibit entitled The Irish and Boston: An Immigrant Saga is running at the Massachusetts State House from June 10-17, 2019. Developed by the City of Boston Archives under the leadership of Director Dr. John McColgan, the acclaimed exhibit was first unveiled at the annual St. Patrick’s Breakfast hosted by South Boston’s State Senator Nick Collins in March. The…
As part of the centennial celebrations of the birth of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the US Postal Service issued a Forever stamp in his honor. The unveiling of the stamp took place at the John F. Kennedy Library & Museum on President’s Day, before a large audience of public officials, historians, educators and members of…
They came to sing the praises of Tom McNaught. Political leaders, historians, friends and family journeyed from across the country and across the city to the JFK Library in Boston recently to personally thank the congenial, effective and popular administrator who is retiring after a 17 ½ year career at the JFK Library Foundation. Those…
Congratulations to Tom McNaught, who was recently appointed as the new Executive Director of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston. He’s been with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum since 1996, and is a long-time veteran of local politics and activism. We sat down with Tom to learn more about his…
Senator Ted Kennedy was a great champion of Massachusetts, the place he called home. When we started the Boston Irish Tourism Association in 2000, he sent a Welcome Message for visitors coming to the state that was good humored and lighthearted, but his pride and love for Massachusetts was clear. Here are some comments below…
There’s no getting around it – Massachusetts is Kennedy Country. From the cobblestone streets of Boston to the sandy beaches of Hyannisport, the Kennedy legacy is as much a part of Massachusetts as the Boston Pops, the Red Sox and a Cape Cod Clambake. Local Irish-Americans have a natural affection for President John F. Kennedy,…
Boston — In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy, America’s first Irish-Catholic president, journeyed to his ancestral homeland of Ireland, a homecoming he later described as “one of the most moving experiences” of his life. On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2006, the Museum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library will open “A Journey…
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