John F. Kennedy Library and Museum
My Mother was not a huge fan of history; she always said she was much more interested in the present than the past – the older I get, the more I understand her point. However, I still love history.
Recently, I came across this ticket stub, from a trip north, in 2001, when I asked my Mother to accompany to me to President Kennedy’s Library.
I remember her commenting to me, when I suggested the visit that I did not like President Kennedy, and the non-historian began to speak to me about the Bay of Pigs invasion and how Cubans generally feel about the man. I laughed, she was of course right, on every point, but I was also amused by the historical context which accompanied her comments.
After agreeing with her, and confessing that besides wanting to check another Library off of my list, I was interested in exploring the Library’s connection to Ernest Hemingway, I said I still wanted to go, and she said: Let’s go! I loved that about my Mother, she was always up for an adventure – even to something which she was not quite sure she would enjoy. I have to say, I inherited that quality from her, thank God.
During our drive, she shared with me her memories of the President being assassinated; she spoke about the grief and the horror which shook the nation, the fact that she and my father had been in Dallas, preaching a revival, when the President was killed, and commented on how things changed, in our country.
The museum was nice, and I would recommend it to you. I enjoyed seeing all of the posters, buttons, and photographs of the Presidents campaign and nomination; there were ample video and audio exhibitions, which carry you back to an era when one man truly made people feel hope and let you share in election returns.
There is reproduction of the television studio, where the Nixon-Kennedy presidential debates, the televised, occurred; President Kennedy was also the first president to televise press conferences, some of which you can hear, in The Briefing Room exhibit. The Kennedy family, including his wife and brother, are prominently featured, as our the events which most shaped the presidents time in office, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Peace Corps, and of the course the Space Race.
It was a great day, not because of the museum, but because I was able to spend time with my Mother, sharing an activity I always enjoy.
