This past August, two members of the Kennedy family passed away, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Senator Edward M. Kennedy. While it has been a time of loss for many, it has also been a time of reflection, appreciation, and celebration. The two exemplified the Kennedy family’s unwavering commitment to public service that continues to impact our country today. Eunice Shriver was the driving force behind groundbreaking policies on intellectual disabilities during the Kennedy presidency, and later founded the Special Olympics. Senator Kennedy was the third longest-serving member of the United States Senate in American history, who worked on behalf of poor people, immigrants, refugees and disabled and uninsured Americans. Their own words perhaps best reflect their commitment to issues of social justice.
"The combination of the love of my family and the awful sting of rejection helped me develop the confidence I needed to believe that I could make a difference in a positive direction. It's really that simple: love gave me confidence and adversity gave me purpose."
-Eunice Kennedy Shriver, A Tribute to Eunice Shriver, Kennedy Presidential Library, November 18, 2007
It is true, as has been said on this floor, that prejudice exists in teh minds and hearts of men. But I firmly believe a sense of fairness and good will also exists in teh minds and hearts of men, side by side with the prejudice; a sense of fairness and good will which shows itself so often in acts of charity and kindness toward others. This noble characterstic wants to come out. It wants to, and often does, win out against prejudice."
-Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Standing Up for Equality and Staring Down Descrimination, Floor of the United States Senate (first Senate floor speech) April 8, 1964.
For more information about their lives, visit www.jfklibrary.org and follow the links Historical Resources-- Biographies and Profiles. On your next visit to the Library and Museum, visit the gallery displays on Edward M. Kennedy and Eunie Kennedy Shriver.