Close
Not finding the information you're looking for? Please contact the Archives research staff.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-077-001
This scrapbook, compiled by John F. “Jack” Kennedy, documents his time serving in the United States Navy during World War II from 1941 through 1944, including his assignment in the Solomon Islands and his command of the motor torpedo boat, PT-109, as well as time spent on leave with family and friends. The gold stamped title on the front cover reads, “J.F.K.” The scrapbook contains photographic prints, newspaper and magazine clippings, several pieces of correspondence, and other types of printed ephemera. Of note are clippings related to the rescue of the PT-109 crew near the Solomon Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean following its sinking by a Japanese destroyer; Jack’s receipt of the Navy and Marine Corps medal for his actions in the aftermath of the attack on PT-109; his brother Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.’s military service and death while piloting a U.S. Navy aircraft over Blythburgh, East Suffolk, England; the marriage of his sister, Kathleen Kennedy, to William “Billy” Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington; and Billy Hartington’s death while serving in the British Army. Photographs show Jack in the Solomon Islands singly and with fellow U.S. Navy sailors, including George H. R. “Barney” Ross, James A. “Jim” Reed, Paul B. “Red” Fay, Allan “Al” Webb, Leon Emery Drawdy, Edman Edgar Mauer, Edmund T. Drewitch, John Edward Maguire, Charles Albert Harris, Maurice L. Kowal, Andrew Jackson Kirksey, and Leonard "Lenny" Thom. Also pictured is Jack in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts and Palm Beach, Florida, with family, including his mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy; siblings, Joseph, Jr., Kathleen, Eunice Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy, Jean Kennedy, and Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy; cousin, Joseph Francis "Joey" Gargan, Jr.; and friends, Jim Reed, Julia Reed, Lenny Thom, Catherine “Kate” Thom, Barney Ross, Nancy Tenney, Red Fay, Bernie Lyons, Torbert Macdonald, and John "Zeke" Coleman, Jr. Others who are pictured are U.S. Navy commissioned officers who served in the South West Pacific theater, including Commander Henry Charles Farrow, Jr.; Lt. Commander Robert Bolling Kelly; Commodore Edward J. “Mike” Moran; and Admiral William Frederick Halsey, Jr. Of note are two typed letters detailing Jack’s military orders during World War II; clippings related to and photographs of Jack receiving the Navy and Marine Corps Medal from Captain Frederick L. Conklin at the Chelsea Naval Hospital in Chelsea, Massachusetts; a typed letter awarding him a Purple Heart medal for injuries he sustained during his command of PT-109; a typed letter awarding him the Navy and Marine Corps Medal; a printed compilation of news releases issued by the “So-Pac Press,” a publication of the U.S. Naval Command in the South Pacific; a printed list of wartime instructions that American service members could distribute to native peoples in case of an emergency landing on one of the Solomon Islands; and a postcard sent to Jack with a handwritten message from his brother, Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy, postmarked from Palestine and featuring an image of Jerusalem. This scrapbook contains 66 photographic prints and postcards, 64 newspaper and periodical clippings (including several full periodical pages), four typed letters, and two other printed documents.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-076-001
This scrapbook, compiled by Kathleen Kennedy, documents her life during the years 1941 to 1942, when she worked at the Washington Times-Herald newspaper in Washington, D.C. The scrapbook contains pre-printed ruled pages with affixed newspaper clippings, greeting cards, calling cards, invitations, telegrams, and other types of printed ephemera. Clippings of note include Kathleen’s review of the Abbott and Costello film, “Ride ‘Em Cowboy”; an article titled, “English Boys Studying in U.S. Think Our Girls Are Wonderful,” written by Kathleen’s brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.; and two newspaper columns about her brother, John F. Kennedy, written by journalist and Kennedy family friend, Inga Arvad. Also of note are telegrams sent by Kathleen’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.; her future husband, William "Billy" Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington; and Washington Times-Herald editor, Frank Waldrop. The scrapbook also contains telegrams from Kennedy family friends, including Anthony “Tony” St. Clair-Erskine, the 6th Earl of Rosslyn; Abbott Widdicombe; Elsie Talbott Mead; Kirk LeMoyne “Lem” Billings; Robert “Bob” Spalding Coleman; Marian Barkley Truitt and Max O’Rell Truitt; Constance “Connie” Shepard and her fiancé, Henry Gaylord “Gay” Dillingham; Charles Alfred "Chuck" Pillsbury; George Houk Mead, Jr.; Viscountess Nancy Astor; Jane "Pill" Pillsbury; and William Warren "Bill" Scranton. The scrapbook contains 58 telegrams, 33 newspaper and magazine clippings, 17 greeting and calling cards, 13 invitations, and 11 other pieces of printed ephemera.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-074-001
This scrapbook, compiled by Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, documents her life and current events between 1938 to 1940, when she resided at 14 Prince’s Gate in London, England, during her father Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.’s tenure as United States Ambassador to Great Britain. A handwritten title in pencil on the cover reads, “Kick.” The scrapbook contains invitations, photographic prints, newspaper and periodical clippings, correspondence, programs, tickets, and various other materials that document weddings, dances, dinner parties, and other society events, as well as state visits, political news, and sporting events. In addition to Kathleen, those pictured in photographs include Joseph, Sr.; Esmond Marcus David Romilly and Jessica Freeman-Mitford; Viscountess Nancy Astor; Kennedy family friends, Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings and Anthony “Tony” St. Clair-Erskine, the 6th Earl of Rosslyn; and Kathleen’s future husband, William "Billy" Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington. Of note is a photograph of Kathleen’s brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., with then-Member of Parliament Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, and two unidentified men, featuring Eden’s signature on its recto. This scrapbook contains 86 invitations, 48 pieces of correspondence, 40 photographic prints, 35 newspaper and periodical clippings, and 14 other pieces of printed ephemera.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-070-001
This scrapbook, compiled by Joseph P. “Joe” Kennedy, Jr., documents his travels, family life, political work, and naval career between 1938 and 1941. The gold stamped title on the cover reads, “Scrap Book.” It contains newspaper clippings, photographic prints and postcards, handwritten and typed letters, and printed ephemera related to his travels in the United States and Europe, including a 1939 visit to Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War; his involvement with the Democratic Party, including as a Massachusetts delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention; his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., and his diplomatic work as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom; his family's travels between the U.S. and England; his naval training at the Squantum Naval Air Station in Quincy, Massachusetts; and other news and current events of the time. Other Kennedy family members mentioned in clippings include Joe, Jr.’s mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy; his siblings, John F. Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy; grandparents, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and Mary Josephine Hannon Fitzgerald; aunt, Margaret L. Burke; uncle, Thomas A. Fitzgerald; cousins, Marion Eunice Fitzgerald and John F. “Jack” Fitzgerald; and his sister Kathleen's future husband, William "Billy" Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington. Photographs feature Joe, Jr., attending unidentified events, with fellow trainees at the Squantum Naval Air Station, and holding a fish. An additional photograph shows an aerial view of the Kennedy family home in Palm Beach, Florida. Photographic postcards feature images of canals in Xochimilco, Mexico, and of Joe, Jr., in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Senders of typed and handwritten correspondence include British politician Arthur Greenwood; politician and Democratic National Convention Chairman, James A. Farley; journalist Arthur Krock; Executive Director of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety, J. W. Farley; and Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby. Printed ephemera include a dance card with a pencil attached by string; a flier advertising a debate on Lend-Lease policy; a printed menu and seating chart for a dinner attended by Chairman of the London Stock Exchange, R. B. Pearson; a ticket book for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, in July 1940; and a printed booklet published by the Squantum Naval Air Station titled, "Flight 62 / Knocks It Off," and dated August 7, 1941. Another item of note is a paper bag printed with Spanish text; bags of this type originally contained loaves of bread and were part of a campaign by General Francisco Franco in which airplanes dropped bread over Madrid, Spain, during the Spanish Civil War. Original notations are written in blue and black ink and pencil on the rectos and/or versos of some of the clippings. This scrapbook contains 75 newspaper and magazine clippings, nine photographic prints and postcards, six pieces of correspondence, and seven other pieces of printed ephemera.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-064-001
This scrapbook, compiled by Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, contains newspaper and magazine clippings from 1938 and 1939 that document a wide range of activities of the Kennedy family during Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.’s tenure as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Of note are clippings related to the family’s trans-Atlantic voyage aboard the S.S. Washington and arrival in London, England; their residence at 14 Prince’s Gate in London; Kathleen Kennedy's purported relationship with J. Peter Grace, son of W.R. Grace and Company president, Joseph Peter Grace, Sr.; Ambassador Kennedy’s first speech in his diplomatic role; Rose and Viscountess Nancy Astor’s attendance at a luncheon at the American Women's Club; Joseph P. "Joe" Kennedy, Jr.’s participation on the Harvard University rugby team; Kathleen and Rosemary Kennedy’s presentation at the Court of St. James’s; dances and parties attended and hosted by Ambassador Kennedy and Rose, including one attended by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth; Edward M. “Teddy” Kennedy’s assistance at the ribbon cutting of London’s Children’s Zoo; Ambassador Kennedy’s arrival in London with Joe, Jr., and John F. “Jack” Kennedy, following a trip back to the United States; Ambassador Kennedy’s receipt of an honorary degree from the National University of Ireland; the family’s vacations in France and Ireland; winter activities including skating and skiing in St. Moritz, Switzerland; Jack's impressions of Europe after a month abroad in England, Germany, and France; Kathleen's relationship with William “Billy” Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington; the family’s audience with Pope Pius XII at his coronation in Vatican City; Kathleen and Joe, Jr.’s visit to Madrid, Spain; Eunice Kennedy’s presentation at the Court of St. James’s; and Billy Hartington’s coming of age party. This scrapbook contains 417 newspaper and magazine clippings.