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Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-072-001
This diary, kept by Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy as a 6- and 7-year old child, contains handwritten entries detailing his daily activities from January 1, 1939, through September 9, 1939, while residing at 14 Prince’s Gate in London, England, where the Kennedy family lived during Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.’s tenure as United States Ambassador to Great Britain. The gold stamped title on the cover reads, “Diary / No. 28 / 1939.” Pages contain pre-printed ruling and text, including entry dates, as well as manuscript entries written in black ink. Most entries were not written by Ted, but most likely by Kennedy family nurse, Luella Hennessey, with Ted dictating. Ted’s handwriting appears in entries from July 11, 12, 16, 17, and 18. Entries cover a variety of topics, including Ted’s education at the Gibbs School and St. Thomas More School, both in London; various train and boat rides during the family’s travels; social events, including a party attended by the British royal family at which Ted danced with Princess Elizabeth; outings to parks, zoos, movies, and pantomime performances; and playtime and sports activities with family and friends. Specific events and experiences that Ted mentions include a family trip to St. Moritz, Switzerland; Adolf Hitler’s Reichstag speech; the death of Pope Pius XI; Ted’s seventh birthday, for which he received a new dog, named “Sammy”; the family’s trip to Rome in Italy, as well as the Vatican, during which he received his First Holy Communion from Pope Pius XII; bombings of London by the Irish Republican Army; a visit to the estate of family friend, Sir James Calder, in Norfolk, England; a family trip to Cannes and Antibes in France; events leading up to Great Britain’s declaration of war on Germany, including the relocation of members of the Kennedy family to financier John Pierpont Morgan, Jr.'s country estate in Hertfordshire, England, while awaiting transport back to America; and the sinking of the S.S. Athenia. Luella Hennessey and the Kennedy children's governess, Elizabeth Dunn, also feature prominently throughout the diary. About half of the pages for July and August do not contain entries. The last entry of the diary is September 9, 1939; the remaining pages dated through December 31, 1939, are blank. The diary also contains three loose photographs, one loose newspaper clipping, and one loose printed birthday invitation.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-071-001
This scrapbook, compiled by Joseph P. “Joe” Kennedy, Jr., documents his education, travels, and family life from 1938 to 1941. The gold stamped title on the cover reads, "Scrap Book." It contains photographs of and printed ephemera related to trips to Europe in 1938 and 1939; his election as a Massachusetts delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention; his enrollment at Harvard Law School in 1940; and time spent with family and friends at the Kennedy family residence in Palm Beach, Florida, and on trips to St. Moritz, Switzerland, and the French Riviera, including at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, France. Other destinations pictured in photographic prints and postcards include Mexico, Spain, Poland, Ireland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, and California. Of note are photographs of the Argelès-sur-Mer concentration camp for Republican refugees in Argelès-sur-Mer, France, which Joe, Jr., visited before touring Spain in the final months of the Spanish Civil War, as well as a photograph of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy christening the Esso Richmond, a new tanker ship, alongside her parents, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and Mary Josephine Hannon Fitzgerald, and her daughter, Eunice Kennedy. Printed ephemera pasted into the scrapbook include invitations to various parties, receptions, luncheons, dinners, weddings, meetings, and banquets, including an event at Buckingham Palace; fliers for discussions, rallies, and debates featuring Joe, Jr., that were held by organizations including College Men for Defense First, Brotherhood of Temple Ohabei Shalom, and the Young Democrats of Massachusetts; Spanish paper currency; and telegrams regarding political events and rallies sent by representatives of both State and National Democratic Committees. Other Kennedy family members and friends pictured in photographs and clippings include Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.; John F. Kennedy; Rosemary Kennedy; Kathleen Kennedy; Patricia Kennedy; Robert F. Kennedy; Jean Kennedy; Edward M. Kennedy; Torbert Macdonald; Hugh Fraser; Tom Killefer; Tom Egerton; and Diana Maria Gerli. Loose materials include a photographic postcard from Sofia, Bulgaria and Shawmut Bank promotional material, possibly a bookmark. The scrapbook contains 133 photographic prints (including a contact print of a strip of three 35mm black and white negatives, and one photo fragment); 32 photographic postcards; and 62 pieces of ephemera, including invitations, correspondence, telegrams, tickets, newspaper clippings, calling cards, advertisements, programs, and fliers.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-060-001
This diary, kept by Kathleen Kennedy, contains handwritten entries in blue and black ink detailing her daily activities from December 20, 1935, to June 19, 1936, when she spent time abroad attending the Holy Child School in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and traveling with friends in Europe. The gold stamped title on the cover reads, “Agenda / 1936.” Pages contain pre-printed ruling and text, including entry dates printed in French, as well as manuscript entries in blue ink. An original handwritten inscription in blue ink on the front free endpaper reads, "Kathleen Kennedy / 44 Rue Perronet / Neuilly Sur Seine." An original handwritten note in blue ink on the title page reads, “Private - All who look within do so under pain of sin!!!" Entries are mostly written in English, although Kathleen would occasionally write in French or switch between English and French within a single entry. Entries for December 1935 are written at the back of the diary on pages with the pre-printed titles, “Notes” and “Récapitulations.” Entries cover a variety of topics, including her time spent in Gstaad, Switzerland, for the 1935 Christmas holiday, where she skied, luged, and ice skated; her education at the Holy Child School; day trips to Paris, France; and films, parties, dances, and other social and religious events that she attended. Entries also document trips to Geneva, Switzerland; London, East Grinstead, and Cambridge, England; and Fontainebleau and Reims, France. Entries for February 27 through 29 all read, “Retreat,” with no further details. Notations on the diary pages spanning March 26 through April 22 indicate a trip to Italy, and one entry, at the end of March 1936, includes an itinerary with locations in Venice, Florence, and Rome, but no other details are provided about the trip. Kathleen also refers to various communications that she has with members of her family, including her grandfather, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald; parents, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy; and brothers, Joseph P. "Joe" Kennedy, Jr., and John F. "Jack" Kennedy. Friends and classmates mentioned include Elizabeth “Betty” Rice, Mary Veronica “Von” Rice, Edith Garver, Allison Garver, Eleanor “Ellie” Hoguet, Derek Richardson, Frederick Sinclair “Freddy” Carson, Kirk LeMoyne “Lem” Billings, and Ralph “Rip” Horton. The last entry of the diary is June 19, 1936; the remaining pages dated through December 31, 1936, are blank.