John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site commemorates Rose Kennedy’s Birthday, July 23, 2011

A park ranger and visitors discuss items in the Birthplace dining room during the 2010 Rose F. Kennedy birthday commemoration event.

Photo by Joel Veak. Courtesy of the National Park Service, John F. Kennedy NHS

News Release Date: July 18, 2011

Contact: Jim Roberts, 617-566-7937 x10

Brookline, MA - On July 23, 2011 John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site will celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Mrs. Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy by offering special programs and tours led by National Park Service Rangers from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The event coincides with Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy's birthday (July 22, 1890) and explores Mrs. Kennedy's life, her family, and her involvement in politics. An active political figure throughout her life, Mrs. Kennedy was the daughter of a two-time Mayor of Boston, wife of a U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James (Great Britain), and mother of three Senators and a President. The event features a special exhibit highlighting the teas Mrs. Kennedy hosted during John F. Kennedy's successful 1952 campaign for the U.S. Senate. Admission to the site and tours is free.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS preserves the birthplace (1917) and boyhood home of the 35th President of the United States. The modest house was the first home shared by the president's father and mother, Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy: John, the second of their nine children, spent his formative years in Brookline as his family began its rise to national prominence. In 1966, Rose Kennedy returned to 83 Beals Street to commemorate President Kennedy's life, restoring the birthplace to her recollection of its 1917 appearance.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. through October 31, 2011. Admission is free. Guided tours of the house are offered every half-hour starting at 9:30 a.m. The last ranger-led tour is at 3:30 p.m. From 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. visitors may follow a self-guided tour of the home recorded by Rose Kennedy herself.