J is for J.F.K.

Ken: We shall strike a balance between culture and fun.
Ray: Somehow I believe, Ken, that the balance shall tip in the favor of culture.
--"In Bruges"

I had my "J" activity planned out a long time ago. Moving to Massachusetts, you learn to love all things Kennedy. (Not that I had to move to Massachusetts to achieve that level of enlightenment myself, but once you're a resident here, it goes to an entirely different level.) So I decided long ago to visit the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum for my "J" activity. Sage isn't a huge fan of museums, but I was hoping this wouldn't be too boring for her, and I was excited to visit it myself.

To start off the morning, we traveled to Brookline to see JFK's birthplace, just a stone's throw from Coolidge Corner. Before stopping by the old homestead, we decided to stop at Kupel's Bakery to get some bagels. Kupel's is regularly voted Best Bagels in Boston, and considering it's only a couple blocks from JFK's birthplace, there was no better place to stop for breakfast.

Kupel's Bakery

We pulled up on Harvard St. outside the bakery, and it didn't look open. I ran across the street to check it out while Sage waited for the light to change. (Always the pragmatist.) As I got up to the store, it indeed was closed. This being about 8:45 am, I was surprised, so I looked at the hours to see when they were going to open. "SAT: CLOSED", it said. Of course. I turned around, where Sage was still standing on the other side of the street, looking expectantly. "Shomer Shabbos!", I said. "What?", she asked. "SHOMER SHABBOS!" I yelled. "They're closed!" Well, really -- what were we thinking? They're not the best Jewish deli in the Boston area because they're run by a bunch of gentiles. So we went up the street to Panera.

After our coffee and danish, we drove down to 83 Beals St. to the JFK National Historic Site, where Jack was born back in 1917. The house is closed in the winter, but we were able to soak in the history on the tepid winter's day.

JFK's Birthplace in Brookline

A marker outside the front door

Doug outside the front porch

After the quick stop in Brookline, we headed to South Boston and the campus of UMass-Boston, where the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is located. The museum, designed by I.M. Pei and opened in 1979, houses the largest collection of archives in the world concerning the life and times of our 35th President.

The impressive structure.

The museum begins with a 20 minute film concerning the early life of President Kennedy, often narrated by JFK himself. It covers his life growing up in Massachusetts; his time as private secretary to his father, Joseph Kennedy, Sr., when he was ambassador to Great Britain before WWII; his time in the US Navy during WWII, including the famous story of his boat, PT-109, being destroyed in the Pacific by a Japanese destroyer, and how he and most of his crew survived on a deserted island before being rescued; his successful run for Congress in 1946; becoming a Senator in 1953; and his run for President in 1960. The film ends with his Democratic nomination for president in the summer of 1960, and then the museum exhibits begin.

Campaign buttons for JFK.

The exhibits focused on the run for president against Nixon in 1960; his famous inaugural speech in January 1961; and several of the major issues he had to deal with during his short tenure. These included rooms that talked about the Cuban Missile crisis; his quest for the United States to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade; his creation of the Peace Corps; and many trinkets/mementos that he both gave and received to and from other heads of state of the world.

A space suit from the Mercury Seven.

There were also several exhibits about the Kennedy family; their work to help with those afflicted with mental retardation; talk of Jackie Kennedy and her time as First Lady; and a room that had a replica of Bobby Kennedy's desk/office, as he served as JFK's Attorney General.

Bobby Kennedy's desk. The photo at the top was of his family at their house in McLean, VA, Hickory Hill. On the scrap of paper in front of the photo was written a line from Robert Frost's poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep."

The museum handled the assassination of JFK extremely well. They simply had a small hallway that had a sign that said, "November 22, 1963", and had several video screens showing news footage from those four days in November. In this way the museum doesn't try to ignore JFK's death, but also understates it, as if to show that his great work when he was alive should be remembered much more than what happened on that day in Dallas.

The remainder of the museum showed JFK's legacy, including a huge piece of the Berlin Wall that Germany sent to the United States after the wall came down in 1990. This was a wonderful acknowledgement of JFK's speech in Berlin in 1963, and his show of solidarity with the West Germans.

A large section of the Berlin Wall.

The museum tour ends at the large building's atrium which showcases Boston Harbor. During the spring and summer months JFK's yacht, Victura, is docked outside the museum.

View of downtown Boston from the JFK Museum and Library.

I.M. Pei's tall glass structure is striking and impressive.

The tour ends here, with a quotation from JFK's inaugural speech, that reminds everyone that no task should ever be considered too great, or too daunting; and it's never too late to begin the work at hand.

"All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."