My Search for John F. Kennedy at Harvard

I forgot to record the temperature for today, but there was a heat advisory warning so I assume the temperature went past 89 degrees. In light of this, I decided to take an impromptu trip to Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts to look for sites visited by and honoring President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in the late afternoon when the weather would be more tolerable as the sun would be setting over time.

I conceived of the idea the night before when I came upon a list at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library’s website entitled “John F.Kennedy’s Residences.” I found two buildings listed that I knew I could potentially visit. One was “Freshman Dormitory, Weld 32, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts” where Kennedy lived as a freshman student after he transferred from Princeton University from 1963 to 1937. The other listed was “Winthrop House, Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts” for his sophomore and senior years as an undergrad from 1937 until his graduation in 1940. As I saw those two sites listed and with a free afternoon, I decided make a pilgrimage to the campus of Harvard University.

I ended up taking a bus from the sidewalk two blocks from where I live. It was past 5:30pm so I knew I would arrive there just before 6:00pm just as most of the shops were closing for the night. As I sat on the bus, I felt as though I were sailing (as the Kennedy love to do literally) to history. Before I knew it, I was at Harvard Station in Cambridge and ascended into Harvard Square with my first glimpse of the Harvard Coop, my old sanctuary. It had closed the hour before so I could not go inside. I will return there at some point. Besides, today I was on a mission.

I immediately went to find Winthrop House, which was a five-minute walk from Harvard Station through John F. Kennedy Street and took a left on Memorial Drive. I found it easily, which was a surprise to me because I thought the search would be more difficult. Nevertheless, the first of the historical sites I was searching had been found. According to an article by Tom Acitelli, entitled “John F Kennedyin the Boston area, mapped,” “The rooms he occupied there are now called the Kennedy Suite, and the Kennedy School of Government uses them to house guest speakers.”

 As I looked upon the building, I began to imagine a young John F. Kennedy at the age of twenty-two, sitting at a desk, writing his thesis, which later became a book entitled “Why England Slept.” I wondered how he formulated his thoughts and recounted his experiences travelling through Europe on the Eve of the Second World War as he wrote his thesis. I have already ordered a copy of “Why England Slept” two days ago on eBay to add to my Kennedy Book Collection and some time after it arrives, I intend to take my copy of the book and photograph it in front of Winthrop House as if to say “Within the pages I hold in my hand are the words of the man who wrote them within those walls.”

After this, I went over to John F. Kennedy Memorial Park, via Dr Paul Dudley White Bike Path. There were groups of people having fun together and socializing. Children were running around playing games and having a good time. I sat at an area where I tried to quietly reflect on John F. Kennedy’s legacy, but there were people chatting nearby and I could not focus. I was annoyed that I could not sit and reflect. The last time I went there, some teenagers were skateboarding over the monument. "How dare they disrespect the memory of President Kennedy this way," I thought, "They should know better." I obviously couldn’t tell them to leave and I didn’t think they could be reasoned with. I decided instead to go somewhere else to reflect as I did today.

I then went to John F. Kennedy School of Government, just behind the park. According to Tom Acitelli’s article, “The Harvard school named for him actually predates Kennedy's entry into government. It was rechristened for the late president in 1966.” The Wikipedia page for the school states that “Harvard Kennedy School was originally the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration, and was founded in 1936,” the same year Kennedy entered Harvard as a freshman.

I had only been inside the building only once. In fact, it was 4 years, 9 months, and 6 days before. It was on September 21, 2016 when I attended a forum featuring the former Prime Minister of Israel – Ehud Barak. The forum and my meeting with the former prime minister sparked an interest in foreign policy and inspired me to want to learn more about the world around me.

I felt that the sun would be out only for a little longer so I quickly made my way to Weld Hall, on the main campus called Harvard Yard, where Kennedy lived as a freshman. I imagined a young JFK walking quickly to his classes from his dormitory to avoid being late for class or laughing with his new college friends on the campus or perhaps sharing insights on the situation escalating in Europe. I wondered what it looked like inside, whether it still looked the same on the inside from Kennedy’s time there in 1936-1937 or where his college dorm room was. I may never know because I am not student there and have no access to enter the building to see for myself.

It was at this point where I decided to walk around some more to stretch my legs and to revisit other historic sites of interest that did not relate to JFK, like the Cambridge Common. However, I did wonder if these sites were in existence when he was a student at Harvard. What would he have thought as he would look at the statue of Abraham Lincoln? “Could I be as great as him?” I’m over thinking this. He probably did not think such thoughts. However, I can't help but wonder if he ever compared himself with his heroes.

On a side note, when I later returned to the place where I live, I discovered in Tom Acitelli's article that Kennedy was a member of the Spee Club, a "finals club while at Harvard, and was apparently fond of writing letters on Spee stationary." The location as listed in the article was (or is) at 76 Mt Auburn Street, also in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The next time I return to Harvard Square, I will make time to find that location. 

Anyway, as the sun began to set, I went back to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Park mainly to try to reflect again and was curious to see what the park was like just before dusk. 

(John F. Kennedy Memorial Park)

I became distracted. I safely walked across Memorial Drive to Dr Paul Dudley White Bike Path to view the setting sun in the orange sky making a silhouette of what I assumed to be of nearby Mount Auburn Hospital.

I also went up to sidewalk of Anderson Memorial Bridge to get a better view.

As the sky was turning dark, I went back to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Park to try to sit and reflect for a third time.

There were people sitting near me, chatting endlessly about something not worth talking about. I was inwardly angry. “Why are these people so ignorant?” I thought, “don’t they know who President Kennedy was, what he stood for, what he meant to our country?” As dusk settled in, I got up and walked away toward Harvard Square and decided it was time to return to the place where I live. As I was walking, I remembered something that Caroline Kennedy, JFK’s daughter, mentioned in 2011 about how her father’s time was passing into history. It took on a new meaning for me after meeting Jean Kennedy Smith, JFK’s last surviving sibling, some years ago and who had passed away last year. I feel that I need to do something to honor President Kennedy’s memory. I don’t know what I could do, but in the meantime, I’m going to start reading some of the books I have on him. I will not be a “tsundoku,” which is someone who likes buying books, but never reads them. I bought these books for a reason. I am determined to honor President Kennedy’s memory and tell his story and share his vision to “a new generation of Americans born in this century” to inspire them.

And so, to conclude this entry, I want to share the words that Caroline Kennedy spoke on the evening of October 3, 2011 on the publication of Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy: “Fifty years after my father’s presidency, so many people share his vision for America and are interested in learning about his administration. His time is really becoming part of history rather than living memory. In President Kennedy’s words: ‘Spirit and Example remain as vital as ever. Now when young people feel disconnected from politics, it is up to us as adults to reach across the generations and we commit ourselves and our country to the ideal of life.’ … The goals in his anniversary years are to stimulate interest in public interest and use the power of history to us solve the problems of our own time.”

An update on my Kennedy collection

It had been nine days since I last posted a blog entry. Where I live it is 63 degrees outside and cloudy. A weather forecast for the weekend suggests that a small percentage of rain may occur. It’s a nice evening for a walk and I thought about doing so, but I didn’t want to get unexpectedly rained upon so I have instead decided to remained indoors and type another blog entry to pass the time. I had thought about waiting another month to update my blog, but instead I chose to do it now since I honestly have nothing better to do.

I was originally going to share my origins of my interest in the Kennedys, namely the 35^th President of the United States - John Fitzgerald Kennedy. However, upon rereading this blog entry which is basically an inventory of items I have ordered and desire to have, I have instead chosen to just leave this blog as an update regarding my growing Kennedy collection and tell my story another time. Besides, if I were to attempt to share my story along with the updates of my collection as a prelude, I feel that it would be too much for the reader so this blog entry may only be of interest to bibliophiles and/or collectors of items relating to The Kennedys and/or even the American Presidency.

In my previous blog entry, I was really hoping to acquire a vintage JFK Head Sculpture Robert Berks Replica. A few hours after that blog entry had been posted, the sculpture was sold to someone else who bought it before I could.

Admittedly, I was angry because in my mind, I thought I deserved to own that sculpture. “After all,” I thought, “I’m a bigger admirer of John F. Kennedy than whoever bought it since I’ve met with people who worked with, knew, and were related to President Kennedy. I’m even a member of the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. I could cite paragraphs of his speeches. The sculpture’s new owner doesn’t know or cares as much as I do. That sculpture should be mine.” Now after having thought about it, I think it may have been a blessing in disguise. Even though the price was reduced to $95.00 with $8.00 in shipping, I think it’s best for me to save my money and I should live within my means. So today I ordered vintage WA Smith busts of President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy together for $12.00 with $8.00 in shipping which resulted in having saved $80.00.

Granted the busts are not my first choice, but I think I made the right decision, mostly because I saved money. When the busts arrive, I intend to use them to serve as “bookends” only for my collection of PBS DVD documentaries on The Kennedys (no exceptions will be made for films, miniseries, or even other documentaries from other studios even if they are on said family) and to crown my bookshelf which I dedicated to solely for displaying books on John F. Kennedy and the Kennedy Family.
 
Speaking of which, since my last entry, more books that I ordered relating to The Kennedys have arrived with in this past week, which are:

• “The Fitzgerald and The Kennedys” by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• “The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings” by Thomas Maier
• “The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy” by David Nasaw
• “Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis” by Robert F. Kennedy
• “The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev, 1960–1963” by Michael Beschloss
• “JFK: Reckless Youth” by Nigel Hamilton
• “Jack Kennedy: The Education of a Statesman” by Barbara Leaming
• “PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy” by William Doyle 
• “The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba's Bay of Pigs” by Jim Rasenberger
• “American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race” by Douglas Brinkley
• “America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis” by Sarah Bradford
• “The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family” by Laurence Leamer
• “The Kennedy Men: 1901-​1963” also by Laurence Leamer.
• “Sons & Brothers: The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy” by Richard D. Mahoney
• “They Were My Friends - Jack, Bob and Ted: My Life In and Out of Politics” by Gerard F. Doherty
• “A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House” by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
• “Let Every Nation Know: John F. Kennedy in His Own Words” by Robert Dallek and Terry Golway (not pictured. Forgot to add it when I took the photo).

That amounts to seventeen books, which in addition to the twenty-two books that I already own, totals the collection to thirty-nine books (all in hardcover with dust jackets). I have five more arriving which are “Prelude to Leadership: The European Diary of John F. Kennedy: Summer 1945,” “Dinner in Camelot: The Night America's Greatest Scientists, Writers, and Scholars Partied at the Kennedy White House” by Joseph A. Esposito, “Why England Slept” by John F. Kennedy, along with “Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch” and “Edward M. Kennedy: An Oral History (Oxford Oral History Series),” which are both by Barbara A. Perry. I should also mention that all the books I ordered where purchased at reduced prices since almost all of them were pre-owned.
 
My regret is that I can’t order more books, not merely because I want to save money (which is a good thing), but because I won’t have any more room to add books like “The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis” Edited by Ernest R. May and Philip D. Zelikow, “Eyeball to Eyeball: The Inside Story of the Cuban Missile Crisis” by Dino A.​ Brugioni, “Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier by Barbara A. Perry,” “American Values: Lessons I Learned from My Family” by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and others. I also want to leave room for Frederik Logevall’s second volume of his two-part biography of John F. Kennedy when it gets published. I could get another bookshelf, but for me that would cost time, money, lots of planning, and costly efforts to acquire one so I will have to settle for what I have… for now.

In other news, my Portrait of John F. Kennedy by Norman Rockwell replica also arrived in the mail today.

I was initially disappointed because I thought it would be larger, but I’ll find a use for it. I might use it to crown my “Kennedy Library” behind my new busts of President and Mrs. Kennedy. I’m going to wait until the busts arrive and then see what arrangements I can make for the setup of my new library. I hope it doesn’t look tacky. I hope that when everything comes together that it will look dignified and that it will give honor and respect to The Kennedys.
 
I have to say that I enjoy this summer project of collecting these books and Kennedy related items. I find it stimulating as I am also learning history at the same time. It strangely helps me to relax and it brings my focus away from negativity and toxic topics which everyone else seems to be fixed upon. I would rather ignore it all and focus on my interests, while learning something new about the past in the hopes of one day sharing what I have learned with people who have similar interests.
 
That seems to be all I have to say in regards to my own updates. I have thought of adding a quote to conclude this blog entry as I have with others. I’m not sure that something I would consider to be inventory and a wish-list would be worthy of one. After some consideration and some searching, I found one I thought would be appropriate to conclude this entry. The words are from former First Lady of the Unites States - Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (although I can’t find the direct source as of yet): “You have to be doing something you enjoy. That is a definition of happiness: Complete use of one's faculties along lines leading to excellence in a life affording them scope. It applies to women as well as to men. We can't all reach it, but we can try to reach it to some degree.”

One Month & Four Days Later

It is about 2:30 in the morning here in near the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It 59 degrees outside with a dark, but clear sky. I am inside my air-conditioned room, which I turned to low fan mode. I cannot sleep because I inadvertently took a late nap while listening to an audiobook on YouTube so now, I am wide awake with no one talk to and with my sleep pattern ruined for now. So, I decided to do an impromptu blog entry and give an update on the small passion projects I have been engaged with thus far and to share some short-term goals.

11 Days Ago, my top bookcase (which my roommate got for my birthday last year) had been putting pressure on my bottom bookshelf (made of press board MDF which my roommate gave to me for Christmas) which was sagging over time and humidity. 

As a result of these compounding factors, my bookshelf collapsed. 

Over the next several days, after seeking advice from friends & strangers on twitter, I bought three small black bookshelves locally through Facebook marketplace and with the help of one of my roommates, we brought them all to the place where we live (though not in one trip). After some time, my new bookshelves, (one with nine cubes & another with three cubes placed on top), have been filled with books consisting of presidential biographies, memoirs, and chronicles of the Civil Rights Movement, including books on and by civil rights heroes - Congressman John Lewis & Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

(This is how it appears of the day of this blog entry.)

The smaller bookshelf on the left consisting of three shelves is one I have christened the "Kennedy Library" as a reference to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. I also refer to it as the "Kennedy Corner" since it is in the corner of my room. I fill the smaller bookshelf with books relating to The Kennedy Family, particularly on President John F. Kennedy along with Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy respectively (known as Jack, Bobby, and Teddy to their family). I have also ordered some more books on them that will be arriving here over the coming weeks. I hope it doesn't fill up too quickly because I want to leave room for more books which will be published in the future, particularly Frederik Logevall's second volume of his two book biography of JFK (initials for John Fitzgerald Kennedy as almost everyone knows).

I'm also hoping to obtain this vintage JFK Head Sculpture by Robert Berks replica on marble base some time next week from a lady in Kansas through Facebook marketplace. I want to use it to crown my bookshelf dedicated to books on The Kennedys. Although there are two small chips on the marble base, I thought the price had been reasonable (and within my budget) in comparison to how much it is worth without the small chips. I'm not going to mention the price, but I will say that I am hoping that after this weekend, I can make arrangements to make sure I can pay for it at the right time. 

(Vintage JFK Head Sculpture by Robert Berks Replica)

I would also like to obtain this "Portrait of John F. Kennedy" by Norman Rockwell replica, with no glass in frame, to also crown my Kennedy bookshelf behind the JFK Head Sculpture I'm hoping to acquire. The seller has not replied to my inquiry of whether the item is still available as of yet. I can only hope at this point. 

("Portrait of John F. Kennedy" by Norman Rockwell Replica)

Although I would treasure both of these items once they're in my possession, none would or ever compare to my most treasured item in my Kennedy Collection. A book entitled "The Nine Of Us: Growing Up Kennedy" by Jean Kennedy Smith (1928-2020), 

(My copy of "The Nine Of Us: Growing Up Kennedy" by Jean Kennedy Smith)

For those who don't know, she was appointed to be United States Ambassador to Ireland by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and stayed in her post until 1998. As ambassador, she contributed to the Irish peace process (which I hope to learn more about) and years later, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. She was also the last surviving sibling of her brothers nicknamed Teddy, Bobby, and Jack Kennedy. 

(L-R: Jean Kennedy Smith with her family & with her brother President Kennedy) 

What's special about this copy of her book is that she signed it at the only time that I met her one evening on January 24, 2017 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. 

(Myself with Ambassador Smith at the JFK Library on 1/24/2017 & the page in which she signed my copy of her book.)

I believe that in meeting her deepened my interest in the history of her siblings and it may have been the genesis of what will be my Kennedy Book Collection. This is also coincidentally the sixtieth anniversary of the year in which John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States. To commemorate this anniversary, I will be obtaining more books on the Kennedys in the future; I just hope that I don't run out of space. 

With nothing else to add for this night, I will conclude this blog entry with a quote from a book I have yet to obtain called “The Gospel According to RFK: Why it Matters Now (ed. 2004). In it, Robert F Kennedy apparently said: "Together, we can make ourselves a nation that spends more on books than on bombs, more on hospitals than the terrible tools of war, more on decent houses than military aircraft."