On the trail of JFK: 10 essential US destinations
On the centenary of the birth of the late US president John F Kennedy, here are 10 places to visit this summer which tell the president’s story, from Dallas to Cape Cod and California.
1. Kennedy Walking Tour, Boston, Massachusetts
Starting at Massachusetts State House on the north-eastern edge of Boston Common, the tour – which can be led by an expert for $60, or self-guided – takes in nine significant Kennedy sights (see main story). kennedytour.com
2. John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site, Boston
JFK was born here in May 1917, at the family home on sycamore-lined Beals Street, Brookline. After his assassination in 1963, the family reacquired the three-storey Colonial Restoration property and his mother Rose oversaw the careful restoration to its 1917-1920 appearance, including the bed in which the president was born and the piano on which he took lessons. The museum is free to visitors and a short walk from the Coolidge Corner “T” station. It will host special events throughout the next year to mark Kennedy’s centenary, and will be screening a new video about his early life. nps.gov/jofi
3. John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
The JFK Library’s spectacular 10-acre waterfront location was hand-picked by the president’s widow, Jacqueline Kennedy. It features 25 multimedia exhibits, including a recreation of the Chicago TV studio where Kennedy and Richard Nixon took part in the first televised presidential debate in 1960, as well as more personal items including the coconut on which JFK carved a rescue message after being shipwrecked in the Solomon Islands during the Second World War. jfklibrary.org
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4. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC
Kennedy’s administration coincided with a golden age of American photo journalism, with the dashing young president front and centre. For the JFK centenary, the Smithsonian is running an exhibition of the best of these images. “American Visionary: John F. Kennedy’s Life and Times” will run until September 17, bringing together 77 images culled from a number of private collections from across the US, as well as the Kennedy family archives. americanart.si.edu
5. John F Kennedy Hyannis Museum, Hyannis, Massachusetts
From his boyhood holidays spent sailing and swimming to his final summer as president, Cape Cod was a place JFK loved, particularly the family “compound” around a private beach at Hyannis Port. It was here that JFK fell asleep on election night in November 1960 with the results too close to call. Next morning he was woken by his daughter Caroline, with the words “Good Morning Mr President”, and the secret service stationed outside. The JFK Hyannis Museum is marking the centenary with an exhibition: JFK at 100: Life and Legacy, telling the story of his life through the lens of his years on the Cape. jfkhyannismuseum.org
6. Sixth Floor Museum, Dallas, Texas
The outstanding Sixth Floor Museum covers seemingly every angle of Kennedy’s assassination, as well as the flood of conspiracy theories which followed. Located in the former book depository on Dealey Plaza from where Lee Harvey Oswald fired his shot that killed the president, the multi-award-winning museum is hosting a series of events and evening lectures throughout 2017 in honour of President Kennedy’s centenary, and will unveil a special display later this year. jfk.org
7. The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC
A number of 100th anniversary events are planned at The Kennedy Center, including a programme of public readings and dramatic performances relating to key events in the president’s life. Additionally, there will be a number of art displays at the venue, most prominently a collection of charcoal sketches of the 35th President, and the screening of rare video footage. kennedy-center.org
A post shared by The Kennedy Center (@kennedycenter) on Apr 23, 2017 at 8:20am PDT
8. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
A popular, sporty student while studying at Harvard, JFK was nevertheless “shafted” by his alma mater in the Eighties, when his first-year room was destroyed to accommodate a new elevator. The good news is that his later digs in Winthrop Hall still exist, and have now been carefully restored into “The Kennedy Suite”, offering guests a flavour of how it looked when JFK lived there. Accoutrements include a rotary telephone and Underwood portable typewriter, exactly like the one JFK used as a student. To stay in the suite you will need to be personally invited by the university, but the rest of us can make do with the immersive, entertaining hourly “Hahvahd” campus tours, which are run all summer by current students. trademarktours.com/harvard-tour
9. St Mary’s Church, Newport, Rhode Island
John F Kennedy’s celebrated marriage to Jacqueline Bouvier in September 1953 took place in picturesque Newport, Rhode Island, at the 19th-century St Mary’s Church on William Street. Unlike Hammersmith Farm, the nearby Bouvier family home where the reception was held, St Mary’s is permanently open to the public. Look out for the small Kennedy plaque on pew number 10. (The best way to get up close and personal with Hammersmith Farm is via the sightseeing helicopter rides provided by local company Bird’s Eye View). stmarynewport.org
10. San Ysidro Ranch, California
Jack and Jackie ended their honeymoon at this luxury Santa Barbara ranch, set on a 500-acre estate in the Montecito foothills – deep in Southern California wine country. Its villas are set in beautiful gardens laden with fig and olive trees, and you can book the cottage where the future president and his wife stayed, rechristened Kennedy Cottage. (It has the hotel’s largest private deck, complete with hot tub and outdoor rain shower). sanysidroranch.com
