An Update on Kennedy Interest

Today would have been the 94th birthday of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994), former First Lady to this nation from her husband John F. Kennedy's inauguration as President of the United States on January 20, 1961, to his assassination on November 22, 1963. She passed away at the age of 64 on May 19, 1994, when I was eight years old. I sadly did not know of her until after she passed into history. It was not until 1999 when I saw a documentary on her on PBS called "Jackie: Behind the Myth" that I began to learn more about her. 

Initially, I learned that she was interested in history, books, art, and other high minded intellectual pursuits. She was incredibly intelligent, witty, charming, and graceful. In my twenties, I later bought a DVD copy of that same documentary through eBay, and I later met two people who knew her, that being Harris Wofford (Civil Rights Adviser to her husband) and Jean Kennedy Smith (her sister-in-law). I have also seen artifacts that were significant to her life and her time as First Lady of the United States, but I will speak more of this later.

While this blog entry has been posted on her birthday, this entry is not entirely about her though her memory does play a role. In addition to acquiring five books relating to the Kennedys for my own collection, I have also visited the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts three times this year. I have visited on July 4th, July 16th (my birthday), and July 25th. On all three occasions it rained heavily. At this rate, I suppose if there is a drought in the Boston area, I would have to travel there so it could rain again. 

With all seriousness, I went to travel there those three times because I wanted to take photos of artifacts related to the Kennedys for the purpose of creating content for my social media pages on Twitter and Instagram. I became inspired to do this when a unique friendship came my way, which developed through a mutual interest in the Kennedys. To protect her privacy, I'm going to give her the pseudonym of "Jackie."

"Jackie" is a young lady whose age I will not disclose here. Her Instagram page is filled with photos of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and her expressions of devotion to her. On April 22, she posted a video of her Kennedy Book Collection, which used the song "Make Your Own Kind Of Music," sung by Cass Elliot. I soon reached out to her and showed her photos of my Kennedy Book Collection. She seemed impressed. Since I had duplicates of a few related books on the Kennedys, I offered to send them to her. She graciously accepted. 

In early July, I sent her books on John F. Kennedy (some of which I ordered for her after reviewing her book collection). She received my books just before my birthday. In gratitude, she posted what I sent to her six days before my birthday on Instagram. 

I sent her eights books, which I knew she did not previously own. I also sent her a DVD copy of a PBS documentary simply titled "JFK: Like No Other," part of a series called "The American Experience," which aired on public television in November of 2013. It was my personal favorite of all the Kennedy documentaries, since I met five people who were interviewed for the two-part special focused on the exciting life of John F. Kennedy. I wanted "Jackie" to have a connection with that documentary through our new friendship.

She also made a special post for me for my birthday on Instagram. I was pleasantly surprised and genuinely touched that she did this just for me. It truly made my day after seeing her post, especially since it had rained all day. 

Six days after my birthday, I sent her eleven books about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. I had already owned an extra copy of "Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House" by Sally Bedell Smith. I ordered ten more books (six of which I already had copies of) so they could be added to her collection. They arrived at the place where I live just in time before I could mail them all to her in time for the former First Lady's birthday today.

All eleven books arrived at her home on Monday July 24, which coincided with the sixtieth anniversary of a young Bill Clinton (who would later become president himself) met with President John F. Kennedy on a visit to the White House. The books were scheduled to be at her house before July 27, but to my astonishment, they arrived three days ahead of schedule. "Jackie" promptly shared how delighted she was to receive them that very day.

I also sent her a DVD copy of "Jackie: Behind The Myth" as a companion piece to the DVD I sent her on JFK. In gratitude, she posted what I sent her earlier today for Mrs. Onassis birthday. I should note that Mrs. Onassis would not appreciate these books written about her because she would perceive them as trying to dissect her. However, I think she would be pleased knowing that friends are connecting through books as she herself was a lover of books.

[Note/Edit/Update: Admittedly, I uploaded a photo of her post for this blog entry from two days ago after this occasion to use as a visual reference.] 

From the time of April until now, she and I have been corresponding over our mutual interest in the Kennedys. Since she lives in another state (which I will not disclose) and has never been to Massachusetts before, I showed her pictures of books from my personal collection, photos of my visits to sites relating to the Kennedys, including Harvard University and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, and of my photos taken with people who met, knew, and worked with President Kennedy. Through our correspondence, she indirectly inspired me to go to these places, not only to create content for social media, but to show her of these items and places she would love to see for herself and for her to appreciate.

On the night before my birthday (though I was tired), I went to a one-night event of a traveling museum showcased at the TD Garden called the Jim Irsay Collection, which displayed artifacts from pop culture, twentieth century music, and American History. I specifically went to see items relating to President Kennedy, although I took photos of other artifacts as well so I could create social media posts later on. 

The photos of the artifacts relating to John F. Kennedy, which I took on the night of July 15th included a rocking chair he used in The White House, his wooden cigar box, a Texas Welcome Dinner Ticket honoring President & Mrs. Kennedy for the night of November 22, 1963, and a Stetson custom made hat meant to be given to JFK by Governor John Connally that same night, which he tragically never received because he was killed earlier that day in Dallas, Texas.

The very next day on my birthday, I went for a second time to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum though to my chagrin, it was raining yet again. 

I took photos of artifacts on display, significant to the former First Lady's life to share on social media for her birthday, including her baby brush, her first communion book, her report card from 1940-1941, her degree from Georgetown University, her journal of her summer in Europe with her sister Lee, her camera from her time as journalist for Washington Times-Herald, three outfits she wore as First Lady, a painting she made for her husband in 1961, and an Emmy Award presented to Mrs. Kennedy for her television tour of the White House.

I later shared these discoveries with "Jackie", and she was delighted by them. I took even more photos of the museum, I uploaded them in chronological order, and shared them with her to make it feel as though I was giving her a personal tour. I hoped she felt she was there herself. I wanted her to discover the former First Lady she admires so much through her viewing these artifacts, in addition to the books I sent to her.

This new friendship I have is very unique because I never knew anyone else who deeply appreciated the Kennedys as much as I do. Of course, there are a great number of people all over the world who have an interest in the Kennedys and their time in the White House, but in this case, I never connected with anyone personally over this mutual interest before. She indirectly inspired me to explore more places I have never been to before here in Massachusetts connecting to the Kennedy Family.

It is getting to the point where I'm planning on making trips to Hyannis Port (where the Kennedys lived during the summer) and also to Brookline (where John F. Kennedy was born in May of 1917 and Holyhood Cemetary where his parents are laid to rest), not only to share on social media, but to share these experiences with "Jackie" so she could see more of the world around us. I feel like Christopher Columbus going off to explore uncharted territory on behalf of Queen Isabella of Castile. I'm hoping to visit as many places connected to the Kennedys as possible before November 22 - the 60th anniversary of the death of President Kennedy.

This has been an interesting past several months as far as love of history is concerned. This year I acquired five new books on Kennedy, created new content for social media, traveled to the JFK Library three times in one month, made plans to see more cites relating to the Kennedys by this coming November, and most importantly I got to make a new friend with similar interests and got to give her books I know she will cherish forever. Much like Mrs. Onassis, my new friend "Jackie" and I have a connection through our love of books, art, history, and the Kennedys. I owe thanks to the memory of Mrs. Onassis for this new friendship and as her brother-in-law Senator Edward M. Kennedy said of her in 1994, "She graced our history. And for those of us who knew and loved her--she graced our lives.”

In conclusion to this blog entry, of which I hope will honor the memory of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, I wanted to share a quote from her since today is her birthday. After searching for some time, I found one attributed to her though I don't have the primary source as of yet. The words are: "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."