Press Releases

BOSTON - The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum today announced the opening of a new permanent exhibit, Ernest Hemingway: A Life Inspired, highlighting the life and career of author Ernest Hemingway.

BOSTON, MA—The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation today announced that Jeffrey Seaman, a junior who is homeschooled in Short Hills, New Jersey, has won the national John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest for High School Students. Seaman's winning essay profiles Harry T. Burn, a Republican State Representative in Tennessee who, in 1920, cast the deciding vote to ratify the 19th amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote.

BOSTON, MA: The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum today announces the opening of a special display highlighting the White House state dinner honoring Ivory Coast President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, hosted by President and Mrs. Kennedy on May 22, 1962. The Ivory Coast was one of 15 African countries that became independent during the summer and fall of 1960. The exhibit opens to the public on Friday, April 27 and will run through April 2019.

BOSTON, MA – The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation today announced that New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu will receive the 2018 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award™ for his leadership in removing four Confederate monuments in New Orleans while offering candid, clear and compassionate reflections on the moment and its place in history. The prestigious award will be presented by President Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, at a ceremony on May 20, 2018 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

BOSTON, MA – The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum offers several family-oriented activities and programs throughout Presidents’ Day week, including its signature Presidents’ Day Family Festivalon February 19th featuring presidential storytelling, activities and performances, and two Celebrate! family performing arts programs. The first celebrates the Lunar New Year with Shaw Pong Liu who performs music from China and the second features traditional West African rhythms and music with Benkadi Drum and Dance in honor of African American Heritage Month.

BOSTON, MA – Ronald L. Sargent, new Chairman of the Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, today announced that the Board of Directors unanimously elected the following new members: Ivy Brown, President of UPS’s Northeast District; Richard Donahue, Jr., lawyer and Senior Vice President of AmWINS Program Underwriters; David Gasson, Vice President and Director of Boston Capital Corporation; Laurie Leshin, President of Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Kaiyuan Wang, Founder and Chairman of the Governance Institute; Pamela Wickham, Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Communications for Raytheon Company; and Damian Wilmot, Senior Vice President, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer for Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

NEW YORK, NY—Debut author Weike Wang won the 2018 PEN/Hemingway Award, honoring a distinguished first book of fiction, for her novel Chemistry (Knopf), PEN America announced today. Séan Hemingway, the grandson of Ernest Hemingway, will present the prestigious literary award to Weike Wang on Sunday, April 8, at a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

Boston, MA— At the age of 16, Frank Islam left his family and friends in India with just $35 to pursue his life-long dream of owning a business. He went on to become founder and CEO of a company worth more than $300 million. Today, he addressed 200 newly naturalized citizens at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The Indian immigrant called on the new citizens to be citizens of the 21st century by becoming active in their communities.

Boston, MA – U.S. Congressman Carlos Curbelo (FL-26, R) and May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, a leading campaign in the fight to address climate change, have been named this year’s recipients of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Awards.

Boston, MA - Following the passage of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, records related to President Kennedy's assassination were transferred to the National Archives in College Park, MD. Researchers interested in the October 26, 2017 release of documents from the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection should contact the National Archives at College Park.

BOSTON, MA – John F. Kennedy’s name lives on in hundreds of schools, streets, parks, and centers that memorialize him across the globe. In the centennial year of his birth, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation today announced a scavenger hunt that will kick off an online initiative to add these locations to an interactive map.

Washington, DC – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Reps. Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) and Joseph P. Kennedy III (MA-04) today introduced legislation calling on the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a President John F. Kennedy commemorative coin.

BOSTON, MA -- The Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation today announced that it has selected Ronald L. Sargent as its new chairman. Sargent is the retired chairman and chief executive officer of Staples, Inc. He has served on the Kennedy Library Foundation Board of Directors since 2010, and as the chairman of the Foundation’s Audit Committee since 2013.

Boston - The JFK Presidential Library and Museum is hosting a day of celebration on President Kennedy's 100th birthday, featuring performances by the U.S. Navy Band, the Boston City Singers, remarks by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, a ceremonial cake cutting, and a flyover performed by the U.S. Navy. There is cake for 1,000 people. Admission to the Museum will be free and open to the public all day.

BOSTON— The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum today announced that it will host a five-day celebration over Memorial Day weekend to commemorate the centennial of President John F. Kennedy, who was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917. Events and activities include the opening of a new exhibition, JFK100: Milestones & Mementos, and special programs highlighting President Kennedy’s legacy as a champion of peace, inclusion, public service, science and innovation, and the arts. The weekend celebration is part of the JFK Library’s year-long centennial initiative aimed at inspiring new generations to find meaning and inspiration in the enduring values that formed the heart of the Kennedy presidency.