JFK+50: Volume 5, No. 2104
JFK LIBRARY DEDICATED 37 YEARS AGOBoston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) Thirty-seven years ago today, October 20, 1979, the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Presidential Library was officially dedicated at Columbia Point in Dorchester near the campus of the University of Massachusetts.
The JFK Library building design, by I. M. Pei, is a simple geometric structure with a large glass pavilion. The building overlooks Dorchester Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
Present at the dedication ceremonies were Mrs. John F. Kennedy, Caroline, John F. Kennedy Jr., and Senator Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy. President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Lady Rosalyn Carter also took part in the dedication.
Caroline introduced John F. Kennedy, Jr. who read from the Stephen Spender poem "I Think Continually of Those Who Were Truly Great".
"The names of those who in their lives fought for life
Who wore at their hearts the fire's center
Born of the sun they traveled a short while towards the sun
& left the vivid air signed with their honor."
Stephen Spender
John White at the Kennedy Library
July 1986
Photo by Beverly White
JFK Presidential Library
Photo by John White (1986)
Dedication Ceremonies
JFK Presidential Library
October 20, 1979
