John F. Kennedy's Birthplace: A Presidential Home in History and Memory
Hoffman AV. 2004. John F. Kennedy's Birthplace: A Presidential Home in History and Memory. Historic Resource Study
John F. Kennedy National Historic Site in Brookline, Massachusetts preserves and interprets the 1917 birthplace of the nation's 35th president. The house was the first home shared by President Kennedy's father and mother, Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, from 1914 to 1920. The historic house, grounds, collections, and neighboring Brookline community document the formative years of the prominent Kennedy family and permit exploration of the early influences which shaped the character and ambitions of John F. Kennedy. The site was repurchased by the family as a memorial to President Kennedy in 1966 and refurnished to its circa 1917 appearance under the close supervision of the president's mother, based on her recollections. Many pieces in the collection are original to the family's tenure in the house; others are Kennedy family pieces, appropriate antiques, or period reproductions selected for interpretive value. Following the refurnishing, the Kennedy family donated the birthplace to the National Park Service in 1969. (In May 1967 Congress passed legislation authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the Brookline property.) The National Park Service commissioned this study for two reasons. The first was to situate Joe and Rose Kennedy within Brookline’s Beals Street neighborhood to provide a better understanding of the spheres in which the Kennedy family members lived, worked, and played. The second was to analyze the significance of the creation of the site as a memorial to the recently assassinated president.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Hoffman, Alexander
- Date of Issue
- 2004-08
- Units
- HIST , JOFI
- Keywords
- ehistory, historic site, History, Hometown, John F. Kennedy, Memorial, Museum, National, presidential