As part of the Library’s 20th anniversary celebration, the public are invited to join members of President Kennedy’s staff as they share their personal memories and analyses of how American politics and society have changed since the presidency of John F. Kennedy. The Kennedy Library Public Forum, "Reflections on the New Frontier," will be held on Sunday, October 3 from 2:00 - 3:45 pm and will include panelists Theodore Sorensen, Special Counsel to President Kennedy; Burke Marshall, U.S. Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Special Assistant to President Kennedy, and moderator John Siegenthaler, Administrative Assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
That evening, former members of President Kennedy’s administration will attend a private reception and dinner at the Kennedy Library hosted by Caroline Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Library Foundation. Included among the JFK alumni in attendance will be John Kenneth Galbraith, Ambassador to India; Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense; Richard Goodwin, Assistant Special Counsel to the President; Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior; Harris Wofford, Special Assistant to the President; William vanden Heuvel, Special Assistant, Department of Justice; Walter Rostow, Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; Eddie Williams, Director, State Department’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity; Willard Wirtz; Secretary of Labor; and Jacques Lowe, Photographer.
"While almost four decades have passed since President Kennedy began his thousand days in the White House, the American people have not forgotten the spirit and accomplishments of the Kennedy Administration,"said Charles U. Daly, Executive Director of the Kennedy Library Foundation and former Congressional Liaison for President Kennedy. "This reunion is by no means a last hurrah. It is just a joyous celebration of a great man and the living legacy that the Kennedy Library has come to represent."
Former members of President John F. Kennedy’s administration will gather in reunion at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum on Sunday, October 3 to celebrate the life and legacy of the 35th President and to help mark the 20th anniversary of the dedication of his presidential library
President Kennedy’s Staff to Gather in Celebration of Kennedy Library’s 20th Birthday
For Immediate Release : Monday, September 27, 1999
Further Information:Tom McNaught (617) 929-1230
Boston — Former members of President John F. Kennedy’s administration will gather in reunion at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum on Sunday, October 3 to celebrate the life and legacy of the 35th President and to help mark the 20th anniversary of the dedication of his presidential library.
Built with the private donations of 36 million people from throughout the world, the nation’s official memorial to President Kennedy officially opened on October 20, 1979 at a ceremony attended by President Jimmy Carter and members of President Kennedy’s family. Since it opened, the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum has hosted more than five million visitors from throughout the world, making it one of Boston’s most popular tourist attractions and a major educational center for the study of mid-20th century American history.
As part of the Library’s 20th anniversary celebration, the public are invited to join members of President Kennedy’s staff as they share their personal memories and analyses of how American politics and society have changed since the presidency of John F. Kennedy. The Kennedy Library Public Forum, "Reflections on the New Frontier," will be held on Sunday, October 3 from 2:00 - 3:45 pm and will include panelists Theodore Sorensen, Special Counsel to President Kennedy; Burke Marshall, U.S. Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Special Assistant to President Kennedy, and moderator John Siegenthaler, Administrative Assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
That evening, former members of President Kennedy’s administration will attend a private reception and dinner at the Kennedy Library hosted by Caroline Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Library Foundation. Included among the JFK alumni in attendance will be John Kenneth Galbraith, Ambassador to India; Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense; Richard Goodwin, Assistant Special Counsel to the President; Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior; Harris Wofford, Special Assistant to the President; William vanden Heuvel, Special Assistant, Department of Justice; Walter Rostow, Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; Eddie Williams, Director, State Department’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity; Willard Wirtz; Secretary of Labor; and Jacques Lowe, Photographer.
"While almost four decades have passed since President Kennedy began his thousand days in the White House, the American people have not forgotten the spirit and accomplishments of the Kennedy Administration,"said Charles U. Daly, Executive Director of the Kennedy Library Foundation and former Congressional Liaison for President Kennedy. "This reunion is by no means a last hurrah. It is just a joyous celebration of a great man and the living legacy that the Kennedy Library has come to represent."
The following day, several of the former Kennedy administration staffers will join 80 national and community leaders from government, education, media, religion, business and the non-profit and philanthropic fields for a day-long, closed-door round table discussion to examine how the United States might reenergize its commitment to active citizenship and community service.
The October 4 Kennedy Library Forum on Citizenship and Community Service is being sponsored by Caroline Kennedy and Sumner Redstone, President and CEO of Viacom Inc., and a member of the Kennedy Library Foundation’s Board of Directors.
With a focus on President Kennedy’s challenge to Americans to ask what they can do for their country, the day-long forum will examine the state of American democracy with particular attention to individual responsibility, active citizenship, and service to society.
The closed-door session will include keynote remarks by Daniel Schorr, Senior News Analyst, National Public Radio and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. Later that evening General Colin Powell will offer the keynote address at a private dinner hosted by Caroline Kennedy, Sumner Redstone and Senator Edward Kennedy.
Among the community and national leaders being asked to address the critical relationship between civic involvement and a healthy democracy are: Betty Stanley Beene, President, United Way of America; Derek Bok, President Emeritus, Harvard University; John Bonifaz, Director, National Voting Rights Institute; John Brademas, President Emeritus, New York University; David Brinkley, Director, The Eisenhower Center for American Studies, University of New Orleans; Michael Brintnall, Executive Director, National Association of Schools for Public Affairs and Administration; Joan Brown Campbell, General Secretary of National Council of Churches; Charles U. Daly, Executive Director, Kennedy Library Foundation; Charles Dambach, former President, National Peace Corps Association; Paula DiPerna, President, The Joyce Foundation; Elizabeth Drew, journalist and author of The Corruption of American Politics; Michael Dukakis, former Democratic Presidential nominee and Governor of Massachusetts;; John Echohawk, Executive Director, Native American Rights Fund; Jean Bethke Elshtain, author of Democracy on Trial; Kay Fanning, former Chair, The Charles Kettering Foundation; Anita Perez Ferguson, former President, National Women’s Political Caucus; R. Scott Fosler, President, National Academy of Public Administration; Badi Foster, Director, Lincoln Filene Center at Tufts University; Kenneth Freitas, Vice President of Social Enterprise, The Timberland Company; Chris Gates, President, National Civic League; Claire Gaudiani, President, Connecticut College; John Kenneth Galbraith, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Harvard University; Bradley Gerratt, Director, John F. Kennedy Library and Museum; Peter Goldberg, President and CEO, Alliance for Children and Families; Robert Goodwin, President and CEO, The Points of Light Foundation; Scott Harshbarger, President, Common Cause, and former Massachusetts Attorney General; Marian Heard, President, United Way of Mass Bay; Antonia Hernandez, President, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Gracia Hillman, former President, League of Women Voters; Virginia Hodgkinson, Director, Center for the Study of Voluntary Organizations and Service, Georgetown University; Elizabeth Hollander, Executive Director, Campus Compact; Jonathan Howes, Director of University Outreach, University of North Carolina; William Hudnut, former mayor of Indianapolis, and Senior Resident Fellow, Urban Land Institute; Albert Hunt, Executive Editor, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Bureau; Haynes Johnson, Professor and Knight Chair, College of Journalism, University of Maryland; Anna Faith Jones, President, The Boston Foundation; John Judge, Director, Habitat for Humanity Boston; Larry Kessler, co-founder and Executive Director, AIDS Action Committee; Alan Khazei, Founder and President, City Year; Paul Kirk, Chairman, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation; Vanessa Kirsch, Founder of Public Allies, and Founder and President, New Profit, Inc.; George Latimer, former mayor of St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Professor of Urban Studies, Macalester College; Anthony Lewis, columnist, The New York Times; Susan Lewis, fundraising and strategic philanthropy consultant; Richard Lyman, President Emeritus, Stanford University; Burke Marshall, former U.S. Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Sara Melendez, President, Independent Sector; Astrid Merget, Associate Dean, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University; Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation; Frank Newman, President, Education Commission of the States; Brian O’Connell, Professor of Public Service, Tufts University; Paul O’Neill, Chairman, Alcoa Inc.; Robert O’Neill, County Executive, County of Fairfax, VA; Robert Payton, Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Indiana University; Patrick Purcell, Publisher, The Boston Herald; Shari Redstone, Executive Vice President, National Amusements; Mary Reed, member, Board of Directors, Kennedy Library Foundation; Dorothy Ridings, President, Council on Foundations; Lisbeth Schorr, author of Within Our Reach: Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage; Edwin A. Schlossberg, President, Edwin Schlossberg, Inc.; Pam Solo, President and CEO, Institute for a Civil Society; Alan Solomont, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, Solomont Bailis Ventures, LLC; Theodore Sorensen, legal counsel, historian and former special counsel to President Kennedy; Gerry Studds, former United States Congressman; Peter Szanton, President, Szanton Associates; Benjamin Taylor, former Publisher and Chief Operating Officer, The Boston Globe; William Taylor, Chairman Emeritus, The Boston Globe; Cornel West, Professor of Afro-American Studies and the Philosophy of Religion, Harvard University; Eddie Williams, President, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies; Harris Wofford, former United States Senator, and CEO, Corporation for National Service; Alan Wolfe, Director, Center for Religion and American Public Life, Boston College; Adam Yarmolinsky, former special assistant to Robert McNamara, and constitutional scholar; and Rebecca Yturregui, Simmons College, and former Boston Chapter President, National Association of Twentysomethings.
On Saturday, October 9, as part of the Library’s 20th anniversary celebration, the Kennedy Library will open the special Treasures of the Kennedy Library exhibit, a selection of the most important treasures from the Kennedy Library’s collections including antiquities, sculpture, jewelry from the estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, paintings, Kennedy family memorabilia, and important documents from the papers of President John F. Kennedy. Most of the items have never been displayed before and may be seen by the public through May 1, 2000 when the exhibit closes.
The special Treasures of the Kennedy Library exhibit is part of the Kennedy Library and Museum's commitment to make more of its vast archival collection available to the American people. Since the Library's New Museum was dedicated by President Clinton on October 29, 1993, changes have been made in almost half of the Museum's exhibits, allowing for the introduction of many new materials never before seen by the public.
On Thursday, October 14, His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah will be the guests of Senator and Mrs. Edward M. Kennedy and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation at a private reception and dinner. Many figures of international stature have made a special effort to include the Kennedy Library as part of their official visits to the United States — a testimony to the enduring impact of John F. Kennedy's vision upon the global community. Other distinguished guests have included South African President Nelson Mandela; Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations; the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of the Eastern Orthodox Church; President of Ireland Mary Robinson; King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain; Philippines President Corazon Aquino; Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina; His Holiness Karekin I, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze; Prime Minister of Ireland Bertie Ahern; former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev; Massimo D’Alema, Prime Minister of Italy; Mary McAleese, President of Ireland; President of Portugal Mario Soares; and Czech President Vaclav Havel.
On Wednesday, October 20, in celebration of its actual 20th birthday, the Kennedy Library will waive admission to the public, offering free miniature American flags to the first 500 visitors.
Designed by architect I.M. Pei, the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum sits on a ten-acre, waterfront park on Columbia Point overlooking Boston Harbor. The Kennedy Library is a presidential library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization. It is the only presidential library in New England and one of ten in the United States.
The Library’s documentary and audiovisual collections make it a major center for the study of mid-20th century American history. Its archives include more than 8.4 million pages of the personal, congressional and presidential papers of John Fitzgerald Kennedy; 180,000 photographs; 11,000 audio recordings; 70,000 volumes of printed materials; and 8 million feet of film. In addition to the papers of John F. Kennedy, the Archives hold more than 26 million pages of the papers of Robert F. Kennedy and more than 300 other individuals who were associated with the Kennedy Administration or mid-20th Century American history. The Library’s Archives also hold the Ernest Hemingway Collection which includes 95 percent of all the Nobel Prize winner’s manuscripts and correspondence.
The financial support of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum is a model of public/private partnership. The Library is supported by the American people through federal appropriations; fees generated by admission to the Museum, the Museum Store, and the use of the meeting facilities; and through the generosity of thousands of individuals and corporations who donate money and in-kind services to the Kennedy Library Foundation to support the Library’s mission.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library - Columbia Point - Boston, Massachusetts 02125
Tel: 1-866-JFK-1960
Fax: 617-514-1652
Email: kennedy.library@nara.gov
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library Foundation - Columbia Point - Boston, Massachusetts 02125
Tel: 617-514-1550
Fax: 617-436-3395
Email: kennedy.foundation@nara.gov
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