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Tuesday, May 29, 2018

IN THE BED CLOSEST TO THE WINDOW

JFK BORN IN BROOKLINE 101 YEARS AGO TODAY 

Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) 101 years ago at 3 o'clock Eastern time this afternoon, May 29, 1917, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in the "streetcar suburb" of Boston known as Brookline.  It was on a Tuesday.  The future 35th president of the United States was born in the second floor master bedroom of the family home at 83 Beals Street.*

JFK, who would be called Jack, was the second child of Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy.  The baby was delivered by Dr. Frederick Good.  The twin bed nearest the window was chosen for the birth to provide the best light for the doctor.

The Kennedy birthplace was purchased for $6500 by Joe Kennedy, Sr. in 1914. JFK lived in Brookline for 4 years.  He was baptised at nearby St. Aidans Roman Catholic Church.  The family moved to Riverdale, New York in 1921.

The house at 83 Beals Street, built in 1909, is a Colonial Revival structure which boasts a spacious porch.  In 1961, Brookline placed a bronze plaque in front of the house to mark it as the birthplace of the new POTUS.

In 1966, the house was bought back by the Kennedy family for restoration and on May 29, 1969 it was "dedicated and gifted to the National Park Service."  Lily Ruso says that Rose never cared for the original dark forest green color and had the house repainted blue.

*20% of the furnishings in the JFK Birthplace are original including the bed in which the future POTUS was born.  All clocks in the house are set at just before 3 o'clock.  

SOURCES

"Five Things You Didn't Know About JFK's Birthplace", by Lily Ruso, May 25, 2017, Home and Prosperity, www.bostonmagazine.com/

"John Fitzgerald Kennedy Birthplace, Brookline, Massachusetts," Houses of the Presidents, Childhood Homes, Family Dwellings, Private Escapes and Grand Estates, by Hugh Howard, photography by Roger Straus III, Little, Brown & Company, New York, 2012.


JFK Birthplace
Limited Edition 
Collector's Piece
RR Creations Inc. 1995