On December 15, 1961, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They were welcomed by Governor Luis Muñoz Marín and his wife, Inés Mendoza, and spent the night at La Fortaleza, the Governor’s Mansion. The room where they stayed later became known as the “Kennedy Bedroom.”
I want to acknowledge this anniversary not only to honor the Kennedy visit, but also to honor my Puerto Rican heritage. It offers a chance to reflect on how I continue to keep the Kennedy memory alive through collecting, traveling, and planning projects that connect history with the present.
Collecting the Kennedys
For the past three years, I have marked the sixtieth anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s presidency by building a personal library dedicated to the family. As of this month, my collection has grown to ninety-nine volumes.
One of the latest additions came in an unexpected way. On December 13, after an early dinner in downtown Boston, I stopped at the Brattle Bookshop before catching a showing of Oppenheimer. There, tucked on a shelf, I found Kennedy Justice by Victor S. Navasky for only three dollars. I read the opening chapters on the train ride home, grateful for such a find.
This year alone, I added eight books, including the three volumes of Public Papers of the Presidents: John F. Kennedy and Arthur Schlesinger Jr.’s two volume Robert Kennedy and His Times. Though space and budget limit me, the desire to preserve and display more of these works remains strong.
This year alone, I added eight books, including the three volumes of Public Papers of the Presidents: John F. Kennedy and Arthur Schlesinger Jr.’s two-volume Robert Kennedy and His Times. Though space and budget limit me, the desire to preserve and display more of these works remains strong.
Walking in Their Footsteps
Books have been one part of this journey. Visiting Kennedy sites has been another. This year I traveled across Massachusetts to cemeteries, schools, campaign headquarters, and places of worship tied to the family. Each stop felt like a small pilgrimage, a moment where history became tangible.
Yet one absence remains. I have not yet visited Hyannis, a place central to the Kennedy story. When I do, I hope to see the Kennedy Compound, the Hyannis Museum, the church where the family worshiped, the Armory where John F. Kennedy gave his victory speech in 1960, and the memorial overlooking Lewis Bay.
Walking The Kennedy Legacy Trail with its markers of family history, feels like the natural continuation of my journey.
At Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline I stood at the graves of Joseph and Rose Kennedy and their daughter Rosemary. I want to continue, in time, to St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Centerville, where Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her husband Sargent Shriver are buried, and to Arlington National Cemetery, where John and Jackie rest alongside their children, Robert, and Edward. These visits remind me that remembrance is not only about events and speeches, but about honoring lives lived in both triumph and tragedy.
Puerto Rico and Personal Memory
My connection to Puerto Rico is more than historical. When I was nineteen, I spent an entire summer on the island living with relatives. It was a formative time in my life, one that helped me appreciate both the island’s beauty and its place within American history.
Returning someday to walk in the footsteps of President and Mrs. Kennedy would allow me to see Puerto Rico with new eyes. I once stood outside La Fortaleza and admired its historic façade, but I never went inside.
In addition to revisiting La Fortaleza, I hope to explore other places tied to Puerto Rico’s political legacy. The Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín in Río Piedras preserves the story of the governor who hosted the Kennedys in 1961. Likewise, the Fundación Biblioteca Rafael Hernández Colón in Ponce documents the political career of Puerto Rico’s three term governor, who maintained connections with American leaders, including members of the Kennedy family.
While researching the legacy of Hernández Colón, I came across campaign materials that suggested Senator Edward Kennedy offered public support during the 1980s. Although I do not have a primary source to verify every detail, the use of Kennedy’s name in Puerto Rican politics reflects the lasting influence of the family’s legacy.
Inside the Constitutional History Room of the Fundación Hernández Colón there is a bust of President John F. Kennedy, a reduced scale reproduction of the monument at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Hernández Colón kept this bust in his office as a reminder of Kennedy’s legacy. Its presence in Puerto Rico is a small but powerful sign of how Kennedy’s memory continues to echo beyond the mainland United States.
I am also reminded of the cultural bridge that was built during the Kennedy years. On November 13, 1961, world-renowned Spanish cellist Pablo Casals performed at the White House during a dinner honoring Governor Luis Muñoz Marín. This extraordinary evening symbolized the Kennedys’ recognition of Puerto Rico’s place in the American story, not only politically but culturally. Today, a large, framed photograph of that event hangs on display at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, capturing a moment where music, diplomacy, and history converged.
Including these visits and documenting them with photographs would allow me to tell a broader story of how the Kennedy legacy intersects with Puerto Rico’s leaders and institutions, and how both continue to shape one another’s histories.
Inspiration and Community
I have drawn inspiration from unexpected places. Watching Elvis fans share their collections and travels on YouTube showed me how devotion to a public figure can build community and preserve memory. Though Elvis is not my passion, I admire the way his fans keep his spirit alive. It has encouraged me to think about doing the same for President Kennedy through social media, video projects, or documentary style reflections.
This past year I joined a Kennedy group chat on Instagram, where collectors and admirers share their finds and stories. Their enthusiasm pushes me to keep exploring, collecting, and documenting. Perhaps next year I will take steps toward creating something public, a hybrid of travelogue and history that allows me to share what I have learned and seen.
Looking Ahead
As I think about future journeys, I know my ambitions are large. I want to visit Hyannis, Arlington, and the resting places of Kennedy siblings and in laws scattered across the country. It will take time, planning, and resources, but these goals feel like part of a life’s work.
I especially hope to honor all of the Kennedy siblings: from Patricia Kennedy Lawford in Southampton to Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy Cavendish in England. Each carried a piece of the family’s legacy in a unique way, and remembering them feels like completing a circle of remembrance.
I also want to honor Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by visiting the Bouvier family plot in East Hampton, where her father John Vernou “Black Jack” Bouvier III, her sister Lee Radziwill, and other relatives are buried. Paying respects there would allow me to see Jackie not only as First Lady, but as part of a larger family story that shaped her long before she became Mrs. Kennedy.
At the same cemetery rests Jean Kennedy Smith, alongside her husband Stephen Smith. I had the privilege of meeting her in 2017, and though our encounter was brief, it left a lasting impression. Visiting her grave would be a way of quietly thanking her for inspiring me, in her own way, to begin the journey I have taken to honor her family’s legacy.
In time, I would also like to visit the graves of Kennedy administration officials, from Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson to cabinet secretaries, press staff, and aides. The JFK Library maintains a list of these officials and following it would allow me to honor not only the president but also those who carried forward his vision in service to the country.
Conclusion
For now, I take encouragement from President Kennedy’s own words. To conclude this entry, I want to return to what he said upon his arrival in Puerto Rico sixty two years ago. His remarks remind me of the bridges that bind cultures and the hope of building a better future together:
“It is a great experience to fly many hundreds of miles over the Atlantic Ocean to come to an island and be greeted in Spanish, to come to an island which has an entirely different tradition and history, which is made up of people of an entirely different cultural origin than on the mainland of the United States, and still be able to feel that I am in my country, here in this city and island, as I was in my country in Washington this morning.
…Puerto Rico serves as an admirable bridge between Latin America and North America. You have, I think, served to make it easier for us to understand each other, and therefore it is most important and appropriate that we should start this journey to two great countries, Venezuela and Colombia, that we should come here first.”
His words continue to echo. They remind me that honoring the Kennedys is not only about remembering the past, but about carrying forward the work of connection, service, and understanding.
