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Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-077-001
This scrapbook, compiled by John F. “Jack” Kennedy, documents his time serving in the United States Navy during World War II from 1941 through 1944, including his assignment in the Solomon Islands and his command of the motor torpedo boat, PT-109, as well as time spent on leave with family and friends. The gold stamped title on the front cover reads, “J.F.K.” The scrapbook contains photographic prints, newspaper and magazine clippings, several pieces of correspondence, and other types of printed ephemera. Of note are clippings related to the rescue of the PT-109 crew near the Solomon Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean following its sinking by a Japanese destroyer; Jack’s receipt of the Navy and Marine Corps medal for his actions in the aftermath of the attack on PT-109; his brother Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.’s military service and death while piloting a U.S. Navy aircraft over Blythburgh, East Suffolk, England; the marriage of his sister, Kathleen Kennedy, to William “Billy” Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington; and Billy Hartington’s death while serving in the British Army. Photographs show Jack in the Solomon Islands singly and with fellow U.S. Navy sailors, including George H. R. “Barney” Ross, James A. “Jim” Reed, Paul B. “Red” Fay, Allan “Al” Webb, Leon Emery Drawdy, Edman Edgar Mauer, Edmund T. Drewitch, John Edward Maguire, Charles Albert Harris, Maurice L. Kowal, Andrew Jackson Kirksey, and Leonard "Lenny" Thom. Also pictured is Jack in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts and Palm Beach, Florida, with family, including his mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy; siblings, Joseph, Jr., Kathleen, Eunice Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy, Jean Kennedy, and Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy; cousin, Joseph Francis "Joey" Gargan, Jr.; and friends, Jim Reed, Julia Reed, Lenny Thom, Catherine “Kate” Thom, Barney Ross, Nancy Tenney, Red Fay, Bernie Lyons, Torbert Macdonald, and John "Zeke" Coleman, Jr. Others who are pictured are U.S. Navy commissioned officers who served in the South West Pacific theater, including Commander Henry Charles Farrow, Jr.; Lt. Commander Robert Bolling Kelly; Commodore Edward J. “Mike” Moran; and Admiral William Frederick Halsey, Jr. Of note are two typed letters detailing Jack’s military orders during World War II; clippings related to and photographs of Jack receiving the Navy and Marine Corps Medal from Captain Frederick L. Conklin at the Chelsea Naval Hospital in Chelsea, Massachusetts; a typed letter awarding him a Purple Heart medal for injuries he sustained during his command of PT-109; a typed letter awarding him the Navy and Marine Corps Medal; a printed compilation of news releases issued by the “So-Pac Press,” a publication of the U.S. Naval Command in the South Pacific; a printed list of wartime instructions that American service members could distribute to native peoples in case of an emergency landing on one of the Solomon Islands; and a postcard sent to Jack with a handwritten message from his brother, Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy, postmarked from Palestine and featuring an image of Jerusalem. This scrapbook contains 66 photographic prints and postcards, 64 newspaper and periodical clippings (including several full periodical pages), four typed letters, and two other printed documents.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-053-001
This scrapbook, compiled by John F. "Jack" Kennedy, documents his time at the Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut, from 1933 to 1935. The front cover features the school seal stamped in gold. The title page reads, “The National Memory and Fellowship Book,” with a nameplate reading, “John F. Kennedy / West Wing - Choate School / Wallingford, Conn / 1933.” The first half of the scrapbook consists of pre-printed pages with space for signatures and messages from classmates, photographs and printed ephemera, and Jack’s notes on his academic and athletic endeavors, social activities, and daily life. Many of these pages are pre-printed with topical titles, including “Faculty and Campus,” “Student Hall of Fame,” “Comparative Athletic Record,” “Clubs and Societies,” “School and Social Functions,” “My Favorites,” “Entertainments, Lectures, Plays,” and “Memorable Trips.” Topical pages are followed by monthly dated calendar pages, some of which contain original handwritten entries in black and blue ink and pencil. The second half of the scrapbook consists of blank leaves that contain newspaper clippings; photographs; correspondence; printed ephemera, including invitations, tickets, membership cards, pamphlets, business cards, and programs; and other items pertaining to Jack’s education at Choate and his activities during that time. Of note are photographs of Jack and his classmates who formed the “Muckers” club, including Ross Edwards Allen; Roy Oliver “Bob” Beach, Jr.; Kirk LeMoyne “Lem” Billings; Paul J. “Boogie” Chase; Ralph D. “Rip” Horton; Charles Edward Marsh II; Irving Hudson Meehan, Jr.; John Whiting Morse; Charles “Butch” Schriber II; Maurice Arthur “Maure/Moe” Shea, Jr.; and James DeWitt “Smoky/Smokey” Wilde III. Also included are invitations to events at the White House; handwritten birthday messages in black and blue ink to Jack from his mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, and older brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.; an autograph from the writer Gertrude Stein; a handwritten letter in black ink from star Harvard University football player Huntington Reed “Tack” Hardwick; a receipt for a $2.50 fine paid to the Palm Beach Police Department in Florida; autographed photographs from members of the Choate football team, including Gordon Thayer Barlow, Bob Beach, Hugh De Neufville “Bud” Wynne, Lem Billings, Irving Hudson Meehan, Jr., William Joseph “Bill” Albinger, and Moe Shea; and a postcard sent to Jack by his mother from aboard the S.S. Bremen. Also featured in photographs, clippings, and other materials in the scrapbook are Jack’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.; his sister, Kathleen Kennedy, and brother, Robert F. Kennedy; his grandfather, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald; family friends, Edward E. Moore and Mary Moore; Choate School headmaster, George Clair St. John; English teacher, Harold L. Tinker; members of Choate yearbook (“The Brief”) committee, for which Jack was the Business Manager; and other classmates and friends, including Ruth Marian Quigley (later Moffett), Ruth Moffett (later Johnson), Olive Cawley, Thomas Morgan Schriber, Charles Nelson “Charlie” Hoyt, Adelaide Moffett, Gloria Baker, Eleanor Young, Katherine Barker, and Helen Barker. Locations pictured in photographs include the Choate School campus and the Kennedy family home and surrounding area in Palm Beach. The scrapbook contains a selection of loose materials that were enclosed in an envelope adhered to the inside back cover; many of these items pre- and post-date the scrapbook itself and represent dates from 1929 through 1950. Original handwritten entries, captions, and inscriptions are written in black and blue ink on many of the leaves. This scrapbook contains 88 newspaper clippings, 78 photographic prints, and 74 other items, including correspondence and printed ephemera.