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Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-083-001
This scrapbook, compiled by Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, documents the christening and launching of the U.S.S. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., on July 26, 1945, at the Bethlehem Steel Company’s Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts; the United States Navy destroyer was named in honor of Rose’s son, Lt. Joseph P. “Joe” Kennedy, Jr., a naval aviator who was killed in action in 1944. The title on the front cover reads, “U.S.S. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. / Launched July 26, 1945.” The cover also features a patch with two gold stripes and a gold star above the stripes. Newspaper clippings cover the events of the day, and photographs capture Kennedy family members who were present at the launch, including Rose; her husband, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.; and her children, Eunice Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy, Jean Kennedy (who served as the ship’s sponsor), and Edward M. “Teddy” Kennedy. Of note are photographs of Boston Mayor Maurice J. Tobin delivering remarks during the launching ceremony; Jean christening the destroyer by breaking a bottle of champagne against its bow; Jean with two “maids of honor,” her cousin, Mary Jo Gargan, and family friend, Mary Carroll Mann, who assisted her in her role as sponsor; and Rose, Joe, Sr., Eunice, Patricia, Jean, Teddy, and Robert F. Kennedy receiving an oil painting of the vessel from Edward C. Geehr, assistant general manager of the shipyard. Also of note is a color chromogenic print of Lieutenant Kennedy wearing his naval uniform. Loose materials found between the leaves of the album include a handwritten note in black ink to Teddy from Kennedy family friends, Edward E. “Eddie” Moore and Mary Moore; four sheets of blank letterhead from Le Domaine de Ranguin in Mougins, France; and a newspaper clipping about lend-lease aid. This scrapbook contains 83 newspaper clippings, 18 photographic prints, four sheets of letterhead, and one handwritten note.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-070-001
This scrapbook, compiled by Joseph P. “Joe” Kennedy, Jr., documents his travels, family life, political work, and naval career between 1938 and 1941. The gold stamped title on the cover reads, “Scrap Book.” It contains newspaper clippings, photographic prints and postcards, handwritten and typed letters, and printed ephemera related to his travels in the United States and Europe, including a 1939 visit to Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War; his involvement with the Democratic Party, including as a Massachusetts delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention; his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., and his diplomatic work as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom; his family's travels between the U.S. and England; his naval training at the Squantum Naval Air Station in Quincy, Massachusetts; and other news and current events of the time. Other Kennedy family members mentioned in clippings include Joe, Jr.’s mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy; his siblings, John F. Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy; grandparents, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and Mary Josephine Hannon Fitzgerald; aunt, Margaret L. Burke; uncle, Thomas A. Fitzgerald; cousins, Marion Eunice Fitzgerald and John F. “Jack” Fitzgerald; and his sister Kathleen's future husband, William "Billy" Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington. Photographs feature Joe, Jr., attending unidentified events, with fellow trainees at the Squantum Naval Air Station, and holding a fish. An additional photograph shows an aerial view of the Kennedy family home in Palm Beach, Florida. Photographic postcards feature images of canals in Xochimilco, Mexico, and of Joe, Jr., in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Senders of typed and handwritten correspondence include British politician Arthur Greenwood; politician and Democratic National Convention Chairman, James A. Farley; journalist Arthur Krock; Executive Director of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety, J. W. Farley; and Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby. Printed ephemera include a dance card with a pencil attached by string; a flier advertising a debate on Lend-Lease policy; a printed menu and seating chart for a dinner attended by Chairman of the London Stock Exchange, R. B. Pearson; a ticket book for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, in July 1940; and a printed booklet published by the Squantum Naval Air Station titled, "Flight 62 / Knocks It Off," and dated August 7, 1941. Another item of note is a paper bag printed with Spanish text; bags of this type originally contained loaves of bread and were part of a campaign by General Francisco Franco in which airplanes dropped bread over Madrid, Spain, during the Spanish Civil War. Original notations are written in blue and black ink and pencil on the rectos and/or versos of some of the clippings. This scrapbook contains 75 newspaper and magazine clippings, nine photographic prints and postcards, six pieces of correspondence, and seven other pieces of printed ephemera.