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

JFK BIRTHPLACE BECAME NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE 46 YEARS AGO TODAY

May 26, 2013

JFK BIRTHPLACE BECAME NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE 46 YEARS AGO TODAY!

Brookline, Massachusetts (JFK+50) The house at 83 Beals Street here in the Boston suburb of Brookline where President John F. Kennedy was born was proclaimed a National Historic Site 46 years ago today, May 26, 1967, by the National Park Service.

              JFK Birthplace, 83 Beals Street
                 Brookline, Massachusetts
            National Park Foundation Photo

The house, previously designated a National Historic Landmark in May 1965, was described 18 years later as...

"an unassuming, two-story house with green shingles and a yellow porch with columns...distinguished from the other houses around it only by an American flag flying outside."

              National Park Service Photo

The Birthplace was opened to the public on May 29, 1969, the 52nd anniversary of President Kennedy's birth.

It was in this house at 83 Beals Street the future 35th President of the United States was delivered by Kennedy family physician, Dr. Frederick Good*.  It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon on May 29, 1917.

*Dr. Good delivered every one of the children of Joseph and Rose Kennedy.

The birth took place in the upstairs bedroom (at the far right in the photo above) so that, in Rose Kennedy's words, the doctor would have a good light.

This was the Kennedys' master bedroom where visitors today can see it much as it was when JFK was born.  According to a JFK Birthplace brochure, "the beds, dresser, mirror and night table were in the house originally."

JFK was raised in this house along with his older brother, Joe Jr., until the age of 4.   The nursery** on the 2nd floor can be traced back to Joe Jr.'s birth in 1915.

**When I visited the home in 1986, I was particularly impressed with the story Rose Kennedy told (on the 18 minute recording visitors listen to on the tour) of the picture book about a goat named "Billy Whiskers" which JFK loved.  The adventure book apparently stirred Jack Kennedy's interest in world travel. 

According to Collectibles Illustrated, however, it was not the master bedroom nor the nursery that were considered the most important rooms in the house...

"The dining room downstairs was perhaps the most important room.  The table, buffet...and Limoges porcelain are all original, as are the silver napkins rings...used by the President and which carry his monogram."

            Dining Room at 83 Beals Street
                         JFK NHS Image
                          www.nps.gov/

Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., who bought the house in 1914, sold it the wife of close friend and business partner Edward Moore in 1921.

The Kennedy family, which by then included daughters Rosemary and Kathleen, moved to a larger home just a few blocks away.

That home was on the corner of Abbottsford and Naples Road where the family lived until their move to Riverdale, New York in 1927.

Over the years, the house at 83 Beals Street had several different owners, but was repurchased by the Kennedy family in 1966. 

             National Park Service Photo

Rose Kennedy was responsible for both supervising "the restoration and refinishing of the house to its appearance in 1917."

She consulted with Robert Luddington of Jordan Marsh and Company who helped her "replace items that were no longer in the family."

A commemorative plaque, which had been installed in front of the house in 1961, remained in place.

Hugh Howard writes in his excellent book "Houses of the Presidents"...

"The Kennedy home on Beals Street remains a unique and important historic site both as a place of pilgrimage and...because of...what it reveals. 

What is on display is but a part of the story and is to be regarded as an invitation to learn more about the president and his times."

Today admission is FREE to the JFK Historic Site at 83 Beals Street in Brookline, Massachusetts.

From November through May tours are by appointment only, but from June through October the site is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9:30 to 5:00. Reservations are required for groups of 9 or more.


SOURCES

"Houses of the Presidents," by Hugh Howard with original photography by Roger Straus III, Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2012.

"John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site/Massachusetts," National Park Service Brochure, 1986.

"John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS/Massachusetts, www.nps.gov/

"The Kennedys of Beals Street," by Tony Fusco, Collectibles Illustrated, November/December 1983.

94th ANNIVERSARY OF JFK'S BIRTH

May 29, 2011


94th ANNIVERSARY OF JFK'S BIRTH


Today JFK+50 honors the 94th anniversary of the birth of the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.


In a break with the normal format, on this special day we will devote the entire posting to JFK.*


*Personal Note:


We received word last night that my 1st cousin, Jim White, has been admitted to the hospital in Kingsport, Tennessee with a heart condition.  Word came this morning that they have unblocked an artery & he is doing much better.  Jim is author of "Tennessee Grandaddy" & he has been such a great help to me with my blog.  


May 29, 1917


JOHN F. KENNEDY BORN IN BROOKLINE


Mr. & Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. announced today the birth of their 2nd child, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.


JFK was born at the family home at 83 Beals Street in the Brookline section of Boston, Massachusetts.


The child is the namesake of his grandfather, John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, the former mayor of Boston.*


*The Fitzgeralds are on a much higher political & social status than the Kennedys in 1917.


The baby boy, however, will be called "Jack".

            Jack Kennedy at 6 months
        Photo hangs in master bedroom
          JFK Birthplace Historic Site


Jack has an older brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. who is known as "Joe Jr".

       Brothers Jack & Joe Junior
        At home at 83 Beals Street
         Brookline, Massachusetts


The birth came at 3 in the afternoon in the 2nd floor master bedroom.  The twin bed nearest the window was chosen to give the best light.


Dr. Frederick Good is the family obstetrician who delivered Jack.


The proud father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., is the 28 year old president of Columbia Trust Bank in East Boston.  He is a graduate of Harvard.


Joe Sr.'s dad, Patrick J. Kennedy, was a ward boss & Irish-American community leader in Boston.


All the Boston Kennedys emigrated to America in the 1840s to escape the Irish potato famine.


MAY 29, 1917


THE HOUSE WHERE JFK WAS BORN


John F. Kennedy was born at the family home at 83 Beals Street in Brookline.

JFK Birthplace National Historic Site
                 83 Beals Street
        Brookline, Massachusetts


Joseph & Rose Kennedy have lived in the home since their marriage in 1914.  Mr. Kennedy paid $6500 for the house which was built in 1909.


Mrs. Kennedy says she loves the "space & air" of the community but it does require a 15 minute walk to reach the trolley line.*


*The house at 83 Beals Street will be JFK's home for his 1st 4 years of life. In 1921, the Kennedys move to a larger house in the same neighborhood. 


JFK is christened on June 19, 1917 at nearby St. Aidan's Catholic Church where Joe Jr. & Jack will be altar boys.


JFK attends the Edward Devotion School, Noble & Greenough Lower School & the Dexter School.


The Kennedys move to Riverdale, New York in 1927.

       National Park Service Program


"THE KENNEDYS OF BEALS STREET"


"Intimately modest & furnished in original Kennedy family heirlooms & period reproductions, the home (at 83 Beals Street in Brookline) conveys a sense of familiarity.

"Old fashioned phone in the hallway"


The beds are covered with Irish linen bedspreads embroidered with thistles, shamrocks & other Irish symbols.


Mrs. Rose Kennedy (who conducts visitors through the home by way of a recorded tape) says:


'We were happy here, & although we did not know about the days ahead, we were enthusiastic & optimistic about the future.'"


The house (sold to a family friend in 1927) was repurchased by the Kennedys in 1966.  It has been restored to the original 1917 appearance with the supervision of Rose Kennedy. 


In 1967, the house was donated to the people of the United States."*


*Text from an article by Tony Fusco by the same title which appeared in the November/December 1983 issue of "Collectibles Illustrated".

        Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy 
Speaks at JFK Birthplace Dedication 
National Park Service Photo (1969)


May 29, 2011


NPS OFFERS ON-LINE VIRTUAL TOUR OF JFK BIRTHPLACE


When we visited the JFK Birthplace for the 1st time in July 1986, the admission fee was 50 cents & there was only a single National Park Service ranger there to greet you.


I had my new JVC color camcorder with me & asked if I would be able to use it in the home.  The ranger said it would be fine.  This is no longer true today as there is a restriction on the use of cameras.


The JVC used a 20 minute VHS tape.  I still have it today.  I was able to get all of the rooms on the tape while the voice of Ms. Rose Kennedy is in the background.


If you do not have opportunity to visit the historic site, you can go to the National Park Service website & take an "on-line virtual tour" (for free).  


Amazingly, it is the exact same audio that I recorded on my JVC in 1986.*


*The link is www.nps.gov/jofi/index.htm.

     National Park Service Photo (1974)


July 21, 1999


VISITORS PAY TRIBUTE TO JFK, JR. AT JFK BIRTHPLACE 


 "A gentle rain fell...as mourners found their way to the green-shingled house on a quiet Brookline street.


They felt compelled to come....to the birthplace & 1st home of America's forever-young president...to mourn the loss of John F. Kennedy, Jr."*


*From Sun-Sentinel.com

JFK & JFK Jr. at The White House
            October 10, 1963
    Photo by Cecil Stoughton


May 29, 1961


JFK CELEBRATES 44th BIRTHDAY


President John F. Kennedy celebrated his 44th birthday today at a dinner in his honor at the Commonwealth Armory in Boston, Massachusetts.


JFK's guests included his priest, Richard Cardinal Cushing & the obstetrician who delivered him 44 years ago, Dr. Frederick Good.*


*Dr. Good actually delivered all 9 of the Kennedy children.


Poet Robert Frost, who spoke at JFK's inaugural in January, was also present.


In his speech at the armory, the President talked of his upcoming trip to France.  He said:


"(a) close relationship must exist between France & the United States if the cause of freedom in the Atlantic community is to be preserved."*


*please check "JFK's Daily Wit" for another quote from his speech.

       JFK, De Gaulle & 1st Lady
       Elysee Palace, Paris (1961)
            JFK Library Photo


May 29, 1962


JFK CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY AT GLEN ORA


President John F. Kennedy is celebrating his 45th birthday today at the presidential retreat, Glen Ora near Middleburg, Virginia.


Arriving by helicopter with the President were Robert & Ethel Kennedy, Jean Kennedy Smith & Sargent & Eunice Shriver.


May 29, 1963


JFK CELEBRATES 46th BIRTHDAY


President John F. Kennedy celebrated his 46th birthday today at the White House.


JFK was honored with a birthday cake at a party in the White House Navy Mess Hall.


In the evening, the President, along with 20 close friends & associates, continued the birthday celebration aboard the presidential yacht Sequoia.

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