Rose Kennedys Family Album: From the Fitzgerald Kennedy Private Collection, 1878-1946

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Photo credits are located .

Copyright 2013 by The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Inc.

Design by Shubani Sarkar

Photography of the Kennedy Family in Hyannis Port, July 1934: Pat, Joe Jr., Bobby, Kathleen, Rose, Jack, Rosemary, Teddy, Joe, Jean, and Eunice.

Photo by Bachrach

Cover copyright 2013 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the authors intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the authors rights.

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First ebook edition: October 2013

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ISBN 978-1-4555-4481-3

The Kennedy family in Bronxville, New York, 1937.
Left: Joe, Pat, Jack, Jean, and Eunice.
Right: Bobby, Kathleen, Teddy, Rosemary, Joe Jr., and Rose.

The photographs in this book were selected from the larger Kennedy Family Collection, which is preserved at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. The entire collection comprises more than fifty albums and scrapbooks. The staff at the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation chose the images in this book from approximately twelve thousand photographs, the majority of which have never before been published.

In accordance with the familys wishes, all the proceeds of this book will be shared by the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation and The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

The Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of those with intellectual disabilities. The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation supports the educational mission of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and seeks to inspire new generations to public service.

Looking at these photographs is a trip through time and a journey through family history. It gives me the chance to examine the childhood faces of adults I have known and loved, and to see the resemblances among the children and grandchildren, aunts, uncles, and cousins who have been my lifelong companions. This book tells a story common to many Americans: immigrants making good in a couple of generations, the proud photographs of a growing brood, the beginning of leisure time, new cars and vacations, traveling to Europe, and the young men in uniform. Its all part of the American Dreamand thats before our story even really begins.

The people who set this in motion were my grandparents Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. And because this is a chronicle of the domestic side of their life, it is really my grandmother whose spirit comes through the pages. Grandma was famously organized, keeping index cards on each of her childrentheir health, their habits, their school accomplishmentseven their shoe sizes. She ran the growing household with help, but also with discipline and an incredible number of matching outfits.

Each summer when the children are lined up on the beach, there seems to be another person in the picture. Each time my great-grandparents come to stay, they are wearing more curious bathing costumes and old-fashioned attire, while my grandparents become more elegant and fashionable as the years go on.

More important, she raised nine children who changed the world in which they lived. These pictures dont tell that story but they do reveal some of the qualities that made it possibleintense loyalty, and deep affection, the importance of faith, joy in seeing the world together and experiencing all it has to offer.

As a public figure, Rose Kennedy has sometimes been described as overly pious, or emotionally distant. But to her children and grandchildren, those descriptions are far off the mark. Growing up, there was never any doubt in our minds who was the heart and soul of our family, the most fun, most curious, most understanding, most open-minded, most self-disciplined, most practical, and most political adult we knewGrandma.

At dinner the night after her death at age 104, Uncle Teddy asked us to offer reminiscences. It was a special evening of memories, full of tears and laughter and lessons on life. One grandchild described the time his car was stuck on the beach, and Grandma was the only one who knew how to save it from the incoming tide. Others spoke about her fierce Irish pride, developed at a time when No Irish Need Apply signs were common in Boston business windows. We all remembered getting up early to go to Mass with her, and saying the Rosarythe Glorious Mysteries were her favorites. People recalled listening to Grandma recite The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and being called on to do the same, or being terrified of the countless math problems and American history quizzes she posed at meals. I recalled her asking to borrow my bicycle at age 85 and riding away up the driveway.

Grandma loved to look pretty and dress well. She loved being outdoors and took long walks after lunch and dinner. If you were lucky enough to walk with her, she would give you a peppermint from her purse. She loved politicsfrom the presidency down to the precinct leveland believed that everyone should serve their country.

Grandma always wanted to know the latest news, preferably from the people who were making it. She never gave up practicing her French and German. She had a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother, and drew immense strength and solace from her faith. Most of all, she loved her childrenshe delighted in their jokes, she was part of their daily lives, she wrote or called or visited them every day, and made sure they checked on each other.

My grandparents had a special place in their hearts for their daughter Rosemary, who was born with an intellectual disability at a time when children like her were often hidden. One of the remarkable things about this photo collection is how obvious it is that Rosemary was part of family life in every possible way. In her younger years, she usually sits between Jack and Kathleen, the siblings closest to her in age, and later she is pictured most with Eunice, who devoted her own life to improving the lives of people like her special sister.