For Immediate Release: October 1, 2009
Further information: Rachel Day , rachel.day@jfklfoundation.org
Boston, MA – In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the dedication of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum this October, the Kennedy Library has invited the public to a behind-the-scenes tour of special areas of the building not normally open to visitors.
The behind-the-scenes tour will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 12 noon to 4pm. As part of the day’s paid admission, and on a first-come-first-serve basis, museum visitors will be able to view rooms on the upper floors of the Library that showcase historically significant artifacts from the Kennedy Library’s collection, including:
- The Mural Room, which displays the painting that surrounded the White House pool during President Kennedy’s administration and has been used throughout the years to entertain dignitaries and distinguished visitors from all over the world;
- The President’s Room, a private space furnished with specially chosen Kennedy family artifacts and used by visiting Kennedy family members;
- The Ernest Hemingway Room that houses the Ernest Hemingway Collection. This collection spans Hemingway’s entire career, and contains ninety percent of existing Hemingway manuscript materials, letters, paintings, and ephemera, making the Kennedy Library the world’s principle center for research on the life and work of Ernest Hemingway;
- The Library’s Research Room, which provides students, scholars and researchers access to the vast holdings of the Kennedy Library’s documentary and audiovisual collections.
Other events planned to help mark the October 20, 1979 dedication of the Library include:
A Tribute to Architect I.M. Pei
On Sunday, October 18 from 1:30 to 3:00pm, the Kennedy Library will host architect and visionary I.M. Pei for a special tribute in his honor. Family, colleagues and critics will reflect on his extraordinary career, including the design of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, with PBS host, Charlie Rose.
Boston Mayoral Debate
On Monday, October 19 from 7:00 to 8:00pm the Kennedy Library will honor its mission to promote a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, the process of governing and the importance of public service by hosting a debate with the final two candidates in the city of Boston’s Mayoral race, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and City Councilor Michael Flaherty. The debate will air live on New England Cable News (NECN), WBUR 90.9, and WGBH-TV. The debate is sponsored by NECN, WBUR-FM, WGBH-TV, and The Boston Globe. (Note: this will be a ticketed event.)
StoryCorps Oral History Project
From Monday, October 19 through Friday, October 23, the Kennedy Library will continue its 30th anniversary celebration by organizing a special recording session with StoryCorps, the acclaimed oral history project featured on National Public Radio. At this unique moment in the Kennedy Library’s history, StoryCorps will record interviews with members of the community who have special connections to President Kennedy and the Kennedy family in hopes of capturing stories and memories about the legacy they have left the nation. Copies of these interviews will be archived at the Library of Congress, and at the Kennedy Presidential Library.
StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. It is a project of Sound Portraits Productions in partnership with the Library of Congress, NPR, and public radio stations nationwide.
Built with the private donations of 36 million people from throughout the world, the nation’s official memorial to President Kennedy was dedicated on October 20, 1979 at a ceremony attended by President Jimmy Carter and members of President Kennedy’s family. In his remarks at the dedication, Senator Edward M. Kennedy described the library as “a beacon signaling the message of this nation, a lighthouse bearing witness to Jack's truth that America at its best can truly light the world.”
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum sits on a ten-acre, waterfront park on Columbia Point overlooking Boston Harbor. Since it opened, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has hosted more than 6.5 million visitors from throughout the world, making it one of Boston’s most popular tourist attractions and a major educational center for the study of mid-20th century American history.
The Kennedy Library is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization. It is the only presidential library in New England and one of thirteen in the United States.
The Library’s documentary and audiovisual collections make it a major center for the study of mid-20th century American history. Its archives include more than 8.4 million pages of the personal, congressional and presidential papers of John Fitzgerald Kennedy; 400,000 still photographs; 9,000 hours of audio recordings; 70,000 volumes of printed materials; and 8 million feet of film. In addition to the papers of John F. Kennedy, the archives hold more than 40 million pages of the papers of Robert F. Kennedy and more than 300 other individuals who were associated with the Kennedy Administration or mid-20th Century American history.
General admission to the Museum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library is $12.00. Admission for seniors over the age of 62 and college students with appropriate identification is $10.00, and for children ages 13-17, $9.00. Children ages 12 and under are admitted for free.
The Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with the exceptions of Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. The Library is located in the Dorchester section of Boston, off Morrissey Boulevard, next to the campus of the University of Massachusetts/Boston. Parking is free. There is free shuttle-service from the JFK/UMass T Stop on the Red Line. The Museum is fully handicapped accessible. For more information, call (866) JFK-1960 or go to www.jfklibrary.org.
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