The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the
presidential library and
museum
A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...
of
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), the
35th president of the United States (1961–1963). It is located on
Columbia Point in the
Dorchester neighborhood of
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts, next to the
University of Massachusetts at Boston, the
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, and the
Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum. Designed by the architect
I. M. Pei, the building is the official repository for original papers and correspondence of the Kennedy Administration, as well as special bodies of published and unpublished materials, such as books and papers by and about
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
.
The library and museum is part of the Presidential Library System, which is administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, a part of the
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
.
The library and Museum were dedicated in 1979 by President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
and members of the
Kennedy family.
History
Original site and name
During a weekend visit to
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
on October 19, 1963, President Kennedy and
John Carl Warnecke, the architect who designed
Kennedy's Tomb of the Eternal Flame at
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia.
...
viewed several possible locations offered by
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
as a site for the library and museum. At the time, there were only four other
presidential libraries: the
Hoover Presidential Library, the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, the
Truman Library, and the
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library. They were all scattered around the country in small towns from
New York to
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
. Kennedy had not decided on any design concept yet, but he felt that the existing presidential libraries were placed too "far away from scholarly resources."
Kennedy chose a plot of land next to the
Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
The building would face the
Charles River
The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...
which was a few feet away, and on the other side of which, the dormitories that included
Winthrop House
John Winthrop House, commonly known as Winthrop House, is one of 12 undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which houses approximately 400 upper class undergraduates.
Winthro ...
where Kennedy spent his upperclassman days.
Since Kennedy encouraged his
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people.
** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
to save effects of both personal and official nature, the complex would not just be a collection of the President's papers, but "a complete record of a Presidential era." Therefore, the building would have the word "museum" appended to its name as the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
Initial progress
After
President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, his
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
and friends discussed how to construct a library that would serve as a fitting memorial. A committee was formed to advise Kennedy's widow
Jacqueline, who would make the final decision. The group deliberated for months, and visited with architects from around the world including
Pietro Belluschi and others from the United States, Brazil's
Lucio Costa, and Italy's
Franco Albini. Mrs. Kennedy and others met with the candidates together at the
Kennedy Compound in
Hyannis, Massachusetts
Hyannis is the largest of the seven villages in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area at the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer to Hya ...
, and visited several in their offices. The committee also conducted a secretive process whereby the architects voted anonymously for the most capable of their colleagues.
After the assassination,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
residents actively opposed the
Kennedy family's efforts to build a
presidential library at Harvard Square due to traffic concerns. On January 13, 1964,
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Robert F. Kennedy announced that a taped
oral-history project was to be undertaken for inclusion in the library. The project would feature administration staff, friends, family, and politicians from home and abroad. The Attorney General also announced that
Eugene R. Black Sr. agreed to serve as chairman of the board of trustees and that $1 million of Black's $10 million goal had been given to the trust by the
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation.
By March of that year $4.3 million had been pledged, including 18,727 unsolicited donations from the public.
Large donations came from the Hispanic world with
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
pledging $100,000 and
Governor of Puerto Rico
The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...
Luis Muñoz Marín offering the same. The oral-history project also began recording, starting with Jacqueline Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. Originally projected to consist of interviews with 150 people, 178 had agreed to participate and the total number of expected participants doubled to 300.
Fourteen architects were named to serve on a design advisory committee:
Over the following months pledges continued to funnel in for the building still being conceptualized by the various architects. Some notable donations include $900,000 handed over to
Postmaster General John A. Gronouski on July 9, 1964. It was the sum of a campaign encompassing 102 Federal agencies. Gronouski said many of the Federal employee contributions were in the form of a $5 withholding each payday for a period of three years.
The next day the
Indian ambassador to the United States,
Braj Kumar Nehru. presented Black with a check for $100,000 during a ceremony at the River Club. Nehru said that the Indian people were hit by a "sad blow" when the President died, and that they held him "in the highest regard, esteem and affection." He desired for
Indian students abroad in the United States to use the library, then still planned for construction at Harvard along the banks of the Charles River.
Pei selected as architect
On December 13, 1964, the Kennedy family announced that
I. M. Pei was unanimously chosen by a subcommittee as the architect of the library.
Even though Pei was relatively unknown amongst the list of candidates, Mrs. Kennedy, who viewed him as filled with promise and imagination and after spending several months inspecting the many architects' offices and creations, selected him to create the vision she held for the project.
Pei did not have a design yet, but the idea as described by Robert Kennedy was to "stimulate interest in politics". Meanwhile, the suggestion that Harvard may not be a suitable site for the library had begun cropping up. When asked if Pei may have had to start from scratch, he said this was the case. With an "encouraging grin" Robert Kennedy simply wished Mr. Pei "Good luck".
Mrs. Kennedy chose Pei to design the library, based on two considerations. First, she appreciated the variety of ideas he had used for earlier projects. "He didn't seem to have just one way to solve a problem," she said. "He seemed to approach each commission thinking only of it and then develop a way to make something beautiful." Kennedy made her choice based on her personal connection with Pei. Calling it "really an emotional decision", she explained: "He was so full of promise, like Jack; they were born in the same year. I decided it would be fun to take a great leap with him."
Not long before Pei was selected, the $10 million goal set by Black had been reached.
By 1965, fundraising was suspended when the contributions reached $20 million.
Years of setbacks
In January 1966, when
Massachusetts Governor John A. Volpe signed a bill allowing the state to purchase the land for the site—an old train yard belonging to the
Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA)—it was expected that the project would be complete by 1970.
The original design was a large complex comprising the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, the
John F. Kennedy School of Government, and an
Institute of Politics.
The project faced many delays. The MBTA would not agree to remove the heavy machinery from the land until 1970. By that time construction costs had risen to over $20 million.
Only now could Pei prepare a six-month study of the site's soil, and he said the "money we had six years ago, today will barely pay for 60 percent of the original plans."
Robert Kennedy, by then a senator from New York, had been serving as president of the John F. Kennedy Library Corporation until he was
assassinated in 1968. Weeks before,
William Manchester and
Harper & Row donated $750,000 to the library.
The first in a series of installments expected to total $5 million, came from the profits of the 1967 book ''
The Death of a President'' which caused a bitter feud between the Kennedys and Manchester. Mrs. Kennedy remarked "I think it is so beautiful what Mr. Manchester did. I am glad that Senator Kennedy knew about it before he died."
The youngest of the Kennedy brothers, Senator
Edward M. Kennedy, stepped down as vice president of the corporation to fill the newly vacant position.
By 1971, construction had still not begun; researchers and scholars were forced to work out of the Federal Records Center which was temporarily housing some of the 15 million documents and manuscripts. Pei said there was finally "a clear way ahead". He was asked to save on construction expenses by using inexpensive materials.
This would translate into Pei working with concrete instead of his preferred stone.
On May 22, 1971, President
Lyndon B. Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy as president, saw the dedication of the
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
.
Meanwhile, the Cambridge community was in fierce opposition to having the library being built in Cambridge at all. Although originally welcomed in 1965, the library was now seen as a great attractor of over a million annual tourists who would change the neighborhood with "hordes of tourists, automobiles, fast-food franchises and souvenir shops",
as well as cause a negative environmental impact. A neighborhood group filed a lawsuit in federal court demanding that the
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...
study, which found that the great number of visitors would have "no adverse effect on the area," be reexamined.
Stephen E. Smith, a Kennedy in-law who heads the John F. Kennedy Library Corporation decided that "we want the Kennedy Library to be a happy place. It would not be in keeping with the nature of this memorial for it to open in an atmosphere of discord and controversy."
In February 1975 the plans for having the library where President Kennedy would have wanted it, were dropped.
New location, new plan
In 1975, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Corporation announced that it would locate the library on a 10-acre site offered by the University of Massachusetts Boston adjacent to its campus on the
Columbia Point peninsula, and was described as a group of "massive, blocky structures...in sharp contrast to the mellow and urbane atmosphere of the library's original site near Harvard Square."
The site was originally a
garbage dump; Pei recalls finding old refrigerators and appliances under the soil. In all seriousness, he asserted that one could toss a lit match on the earth and watch the ground ignite as the soil emitted
methane gas.
June 12, 1977, marked the official
groundbreaking for the library with construction following in August. The site overlooks Boston,
Dorchester Bay and the
ocean
The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...
. The area was covered in of earth and
topsoil
Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs.
Description
Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic mat ...
.
Pei was particularly proud of the landscaping results.
The design would be a simple geometric structure with a large glass pavilion. The concrete tower stands tall and houses offices and archives. A circular section contains two theaters and is connected to the tower by the grey-glass pavilion. The
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
finish of the building directly reflects the budget.
With more money Pei would have made the building with stone which he believes offers a nicer finish with more detail.
The materials chosen kept the costs within budget, in total costing $20.8 million.
Over 30 million people contributed to the cost of construction, which more than 225 construction workers labored to complete before the end of 1979.
Dedication
The dedication was held on October 20, 1979. Outside the building on
the green, on a blue-carpeted stage with a bank of yellow
chrysanthemums sat the Kennedy family and those close to them. Among many others, President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
was in their company. The ceremony began with President Kennedy's daughter,
Caroline Kennedy, introducing her brother,
John F. Kennedy Jr., who read from the
Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...
poem, "I Think Continually of Those Who Were Truly Great".
President Carter said of John F. Kennedy that he embodied "the ideals of a generation as few public figures have ever done in the history of the earth."
He spoke of openly weeping upon hearing about the death of Kennedy, something that he had not done since his own father died, ten years before. Afterwards, he accepted the library "on behalf of the American people"
and the
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
.
Senator
Edward M. Kennedy, said of his brother's life, that it "was a voyage of discovery, a quest for excellence that inspired universal trust and faith. In that brief unfinished journey, he made us believe once more in the great historic purpose of this land. He filled America with pride and made the nation young again."
Critics generally liked the finished building, but the architect himself was unsatisfied. The years of conflict and compromise had changed the nature of the design, and Pei felt that the final result lacked its original passion. "I wanted to give something very special to the memory of President Kennedy," he said in 2000. "It could and should have been a great project." Perhaps the most important consequence of the Kennedy project for Pei was his elevation in the public's consciousness as an architect of note. Pei considered the John F. Kennedy Library "the most important commission in my life."
Temporary closure
During the
federal mass layoffs, the library was closed until further notice on February 18, 2025, at approximately 2:00 PM. The reason given was "Due to an executive order". The library reopened the next day with free admission.
Exhibits and collection

The library's first floor features a museum containing video monitors, family photographs, political memorabilia. Visitors to the museum begin their visit by watching a film narrated by President Kennedy in one of two cinemas that show an orientation film, and a third shows a documentary on the
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...
.
There are seven permanent exhibits:
* Campaign Trail – Exhibit on the
presidential campaign of 1960 and
New Frontier
The term ''New Frontier'' was used by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech, delivered July 15, in the 1960 United States presidential election to the Democratic National Convention at the Los Angeles Memo ...
, featuring
1960 Democratic National Convention memorabilia, and a replica of a Kennedy campaign office.
* The Briefing Room – Exhibit on Kennedy's speeches and
press conference
A press conference, also called news conference or press briefing, is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalism, journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicia ...
s.
* The Space Race – Exhibit on the
Space Race
The Space Race (, ) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between t ...
and the
U.S. space program during
Project Mercury
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...
; features the
Mercury-Redstone 3
Mercury-Redstone 3, or ''Freedom 7'', was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first crewed flight of Project Mercury. The project had the ultimate objective of putting an astr ...
(''Freedom 7'')
space capsule
A space capsule is a spacecraft designed to transport cargo, scientific experiments, and/or astronauts to and from space. Capsules are distinguished from other spacecraft by the ability to survive reentry and return a payload to the Earth's surfa ...
in which astronaut
Alan B. Shepard became the first American in space. The capsule, which was displayed at the
United States Naval Academy's Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center from 1998 to 2012, came to the JFK Library in 2012, and returned to the Smithsonian Institution's
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration.
Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...
in Washington, D.C., in 2021.
* Attorney General's Office – Exhibit on
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Robert F. Kennedy, President Kennedy's brother and closest political advisor. Features information on RFK's role in fighting organized crime as chief counsel for the
Senate McClellan Committee, and the
Department of Justice's role in the
American Civil Rights Movement during RFK's time as attorney general. The centerpiece of the exhibit are items that RFK had in his office at the
Department of Justice Building
The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, sometimes called Main Justice, is the headquarters of the United States Department of Justice. It houses Department of Justice offices, including the office of the United States Attorney Gener ...
. These include documents, personal items, and a
bust of Winston Churchill by
Leo Cherne.
* The Oval Office – Exhibit features information on the
American Civil Rights Movement during the Kennedy presidency, items that Kennedy kept in the
Oval Office
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The oval room has three lar ...
, and a replica of the
''Resolute'' desk.
* First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy – Exhibit on the life of
First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy; features footage of the First Lady and artifacts from her life, include several pieces of clothing.
* The Kennedy Family – This exhibit on the famous
Kennedy family features a number of artifacts, including
Kathleen Kennedy's Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
uniform jacket, a commemorative cup, a
blackthorn walking stick
A walking stick (also known as a walking cane, cane, walking staff, or staff) is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion acces ...
, and a replica of the Great Mace of
Galway
Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
, Ireland.

Among the Library's art collection is a 1962 portrait of Robert F. Kennedy by
Lajos Markos, a watercolor sketch of John F. Kennedy by
Jamie Wyeth, a watercolor painting of the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
painted by Jacqueline Kennedy and given as a gift to her husband, who had it hung in the Oval Office, a
fingerpainting by
Caroline Kennedy as a child, and a bust of John F. Kennedy sculpted by
Felix de Weldon
Felix Weihs de Weldon (April 12, 1907 – June 3, 2003) was an Austrian sculptor. His most famous pieces include the United States Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial, 1954) in the Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, US, and the Natio ...
.
Kennedy's 25-foot
Wianno Senior sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminology ...
''Victura'' is on display on the grounds of the Library from May to October. Acquired by the family when Kennedy was 15, it played an important role in forging sibling bonds and, after the president's death, continued being sailed by other members of the family, especially race-enthusiast brother
Ted.
The Library has a variety of temporary and special exhibits.
Archives
Audiovisual
The
audiovisual archives contain over 400,000 still photographs taken from 1863 to 1984, over of film shot between 1910 and 1983, and 11,000 reels of audio recordings from 1910 to 1985.
Oral-history project
Begun in 1964, the oral-history project was a unique undertaking to document and preserve interviews with those associated with Kennedy. Initially expected to have about 150 participants,
today it contains over 1,100 interviews and continues to this day.
It is modelled after a program by the
Columbia University Oral History Research Office, the world's oldest, which began in 1948.
At its conception, while serving as Attorney General, Robert Kennedy speculated that some of the interviews, such as ones relating to the Cuban Missile Crisis, might have to be sealed for a while due to containing "highly classified material." He said that although the emphasis would be on releasing everything as soon as possible, some items might remain closed for 10 to 25 years.
Because the interviewees are allowed to review their transcripts before the interviews are released for use by scholars, the audio may differ from the written record so that the interviewees may disambiguate any misunderstanding in their speech and make it clear in a written form.
Artifacts
The library keeps a wide range of artifacts, many of which can be found in their respective exhibits. One is the original coconut on which a rescue message was inscribed by Kennedy to rescue the crew of the ''
PT-109'', which was delivered to coastwatcher
Reginald Evans by
Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana
Biuku Gasa (27 July 1923 – 23 November 2005) and Eroni Kumana (c. 1918 – 2 August 2014) were Solomon Islands, Solomon Islanders of Melanesians, Melanesian descent who found John F. Kennedy and his surviving Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109, ''PT-109 ...
, natives of the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
.
The Ernest Hemingway Collection
The library is also home to a collection of documents and belongings from
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
. The collection was established in 1968 following an exchange of letters between
Hemingway's widow Mary and
Jacqueline Kennedy that confirmed that Hemingway's papers would be archived there.
In 1961, despite a U.S. travel ban to Cuba, President Kennedy had arranged to allow Mary Hemingway to go there to claim her recently deceased husband's documents and belongings.
A room for the collection was dedicated on July 18, 1980, by
Patrick Hemingway and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
The Ernest Hemingway Collection spans Hemingway's career, and includes "ninety percent of existing Hemingway manuscript materials, making the Kennedy Library the world's principal center for research" on his life and work.
It includes:
* Over 1000 manuscripts of varying lengths, including hand-written drafts of ''
The Sun Also Rises'' and dozens of hand-drafted alternate endings to ''
A Farewell to Arms''
* Research material on bullfighting, used as background for ''
Death in the Afternoon'' and ''
The Dangerous Summer''
* Thousands of letters written by or to Hemingway; this included correspondence with fellow writers such as
Sherwood Anderson,
Carlos Baker,
John Dos Passos
John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his U.S.A. (trilogy), ''U.S.A.'' trilogy.
Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a ...
,
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...
,
F. Scott Fitzgerald,
Robert Frost,
Martha Gellhorn,
A. E. Hotchner,
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
, Archibald MacLeish, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein, as well as with actress Marlene Dietrich, restaurateur Toots Shor, Cardinal Francis Spellman, publisher Charles Scribner II, Charles Scribner, his editor Maxwell Perkins, and his lawyer Alfred Rice
* More than 10,000 photographs, as well as press clippings and other ephemera
* Books from his private library, many with marginalia, and including a rare copy of Francisco Goya's ''Los disparates, Los Proverbios''
Incidents
In 2013, a fire occurred in the library. Reports initially stated that the fire appeared to have started in a mechanical room. The fire was unrelated to the Boston Marathon bombing, which occurred simultaneously.
In 2022, a window washer fell to his death in the building's pavilion.
See also
* List of memorials to John F. Kennedy
* Presidential memorials in the United States
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
John F. Kennedy Library and MuseumJohn F. Kennedy Library and Museum online store
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, John F.
1979 establishments in Massachusetts
Museums established in 1979
Library buildings completed in 1979
Monuments and memorials to John F. Kennedy in the United States, Presidential Library and Museum
Presidential libraries
Presidential museums in Massachusetts
Museums in Boston
Landmarks in Dorchester, Boston
I. M. Pei buildings
Modernist architecture in Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts Boston
Ernest Hemingway
Robert F. Kennedy
Oral history