Architect: I.M. Pei & Partners, New York, New York. The general contractor was Turner Construction Co. of Boston.
Atlantic Room Mural: The artist who donated the large oil painting displayed in the Atlantic Room here in the John F. Kennedy Museum and Library was Dr. Claus Bergen of Germany. A famed marine artist, Dr. Bergen was impressed with the President's visit to Germany and wanted to present one of his paintings because of the President's love of the sea and of sea art. His address as of 1963 was 8172 Lenggries/OBB, Germany. The painting shows the windswept Atlantic at twilight.
Brochure for John F. Kennedy Library fund raising with note by Jacqueline Kennedy Brochure for traveling exhibit promoting the John F. Kennedy Library, including a note from Jacqueline KennedyBuilding Statistics: Originally 115,000 square feet, the Library attained its current size of 135,000 square feet with the addition of the Stephen E. Smith Center in 1991. The building is a 9-story, white precast concrete tower joined to a glass-enclosed pavilion and flanked by the Smith Center on one side and the lobby and museum theater area on the other. The tower building is 125 feet high, and the floor of the pavilion is 80 feet by 80 feet square, while the glasswork rises to 115 feet.
Dedication Date: October 20, 1979
Dedication Music: Performed by the Boston Pops
Dedication Poem Read by John F. Kennedy, Jr.: Reported in a 10/21/1979 Boston Globe article, part of the coverage of the opening of the library
Exhibits designed by: Original exhibits, Chermayeff & Geismar Associates, 12/1976; 1993 redesign by Kennedy & Associates
First Plans for Establishing the Library in Cambridge: Press release from the Office of the White House Press Secretary, 11/10/1961
Flag: Dimensions: 45' x 26' (
picture from above;
picture from below )
Groundbreaking: June 12, 1977
Irish Exhibit Song: "The Shores of Amerikay", Sean O'Shea
Moon rocks displayed: The rock displayed came from the Apollo 15 trip and was collected by Col. David R. Scott on August 7, 1971. It is mare basalt, weighs 160 grams and is thought to be approximately 3 billion years old.
Mural surrounding White House pool: Painted by Bernard LaMotte
Museum Dedication remarks/speeches, 10/20/79 Museum re-dedication remarks by President Clinton, Senator Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy and Rev. Monan: October 29, 1993
Music in the Museum: As of May 2, 2001 -- Frank Patterson performing "The Town That I Loved So Well"
Orientation Film Text Quotation, Theater Lobby: "This library is dedicated to the memory of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States of America, and to all those who through the art of politics seek a new and better world."
Quotation, from Beginning of "New" Museum Film: On "comfort of opinion."
From Yale University Commencement Address 11 June 1962