Fast Facts about Jacqueline Kennedy

The following information about Jacqueline Kennedy is listed alphabetically by topic. For more information please contact Kennedy.Library@nara.gov. Have a research question? Ask an Archivist.

Birth: July 28, 1929 in Southampton, New York.

Brochure for John F. Kennedy Library fundraising with text by Jacqueline Kennedy (pages 52-64 in this folder).

Brochure for traveling exhibit promoting the John F. Kennedy Library, including a note from Jacqueline Kennedy (pages 1-16 in this folder).

China, flatware, etc. used in the White House: According to Margaret Klapthor (Official White House China: 1789 to the Present. The Barra Foundation, Inc. in association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers: New York, 1999):

  • The President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy ordered no china for the White House and usually used the Truman China with the Eisenhower service plates for state dinners.
  • Whenever possible, Mrs. Kennedy used the old china – that is, Lincoln's purple china, the china designed by Mrs. Harrison, and pieces of the Hayes's service – to represent the traditions of the past. Her preference for the Harrison china was shown in her selection of pieces from that service to decorate the breakfront that she had placed in the family dining room during the years that she and President Kennedy occupied the mansion.
  • Mrs. Kennedy did order Franciscan Masterpiece china for use aboard Air Force One, but the china does not appear to have been put into use until the Johnson Administration.

Confirmation details: Confirmed at the Church St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City, 1941. According to the eulogy at her funeral, her confirmation name was Mary.

Death: May 19, 1994 in New York City

Editorial work: Viking, 1975-1978; Doubleday-Random House, 1975-1994

Education: 

  • Holton-Arms School (1942-1944)
  • Miss Porter's School (1944-1947)
  • Vassar College (1947-1949)
  • University of Grenoble and the Sorbonne (Smith College Study Abroad Program, 1949-1950)
  • George Washington University (1950-1951), B.A. in French literature

Funeral: held at the church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City, the same church in which the young Jacqueline Bouvier had been baptized and confirmed. The casket was mahogany covered in ferns and a white cross of lilies-of-the-valley.

Parents: John Vernou "Black Jack" Bouvier III (1891-1957) and Janet Norton Lee (1907-1989)

Religion: Roman Catholic

Wedding details

Wedding dress: Made by fashion designer Ann Lowe, considered the US's first major African American fashion designer, who also made the bridesmaids' dresses.