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Warning: this is a non-food post! Just a travel post!
I went to college at Boston University and spent four years living in Boston. In all that time though I never managed to make it to the John F. Kennedy library! We had a little time to kill that morning before we could check into our hotel later (to sleep) and I suggested we go check out the JFK library. The library is located on the UMass Boston campus near the harbor.
Boston traffic: it’s as bad (or maybe even worse) than LA.
Also: there are rotaries. These suckers are everywhere! I never knew what a rotary was until I lived in MA!
I snapped this photo because I liked the name. Doughboy! We didn’t stop here, but I kind of wish we had.
It was wet, rainy, kind of cold, and foggy that morning in Boston. But we made it over to the JFK library not too long after it opened.
Dad must have closed his eyes right when I took this shot…
There is a 17 minute introduction video (in which they talked about JFK’s youth, growing up in MA, meeting and marrying Jackie and the road to campaigning for the presidency) we stepped down into the main hub of the library.
They highlighted various parts of Kennedy winning in the primaries.
And there was a lot of stuff that showcased 1960’s culture. Like these home goods! Nylons and a special hair dryer and records.
I really dig this oven, actually.
I forgot that in the 60’s you had to be 21 to vote! It wasn’t until 1971 that the 26th amendment passed that lowered the voting age to 18.
In the museum there are various rooms all with different themes/topics. There’s one about the Moon Landing, one about Kennedy’s debates with Richard Nixon, one about various causes the President was into, one about Robert Kennedy, rooms about Jackie Kennedy, etc. There was also this one, about a special comic put out about Superman and his mission to educate children.
It was to encourage children in physical fitness, basically. They had panels of the original comics in this room. Neat!
This is the Freedom 7 Space Capsule. U.S. Navy Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr. became the first American to fly in space in this capsule!
This is part of Kennedy’s speech regarding sending a man to the moon.
And as you know, it totally happened.
A few of Jackie’s things. Naturally I took a photo of a green dress she wore.
There was also an area dedicated to Kennedy’s assassination. You come up to a dark hallway with only the date lit up: November 22, 1963. As you walk down, there are several television’s broadcasting the news with anchor Walter Cronkite delivering the sad news. As you go further in, there’s this area above with various little photos of monuments, statues and places around the world that honor JFK.
When you come out of the museum you walk into this large open area with the flag suspended above you and a view of the harbor and one of JFK’s sailboats. You couldn’t see much that morning since it was raining and foggy.
We left the museum and started heading out of Boston towards our hotel room closer to where my dad grew up in Fitchburg, MA. Here’s a semi-I-can-almost-see-it view of the Citgo sign that sits in Kenmore Square. I used to live a couple of blocks from Kenmore Square when I was a senior in college.
There’s not much to see once you hit the road in Massachusetts: mostly trees along the side of the road! Another Boston post soon.
I enjoyed seeing this post about the JFK Library! I love museums and this is one that I’d want to visit if we ever visit Boston again. There’s a JFK exhibit at the Fab Fair but it cost $5 and it was in a separate building (not where the Beatles exhibit was). Now I’m thinking I should have sprung the extra $5 to see it.
Hi CC – Yeah, I decided to skip the JFK exhibit since I had just been to the library! I didn’t think it would compare! I really enjoyed walking through and looking at the little details and things they decided to put up to showcase JFK. This was my first presidential library visit – I uh, thought there’d be more books, silly me. 🙂
I totally want to go to that library. I love visiting museums and libraries. I remember there was a time when I was fascinated with reading about the life of JFK (some time in middle school). And I learned plenty about the 60’s from watching “The Wonder Years” lol.
Hi Miss Kim – Haha yes I feel I learned a lot about the 60’s from the Wonder Years as well – I loved that show! I love history and learning about things and I really like Presidential history as well (due to a really excellent class I took about 20th Century American Presidents in college). I’d like to check out the other presidential libraries if I get the chance. I wish I had visited Truman’s library when I visited Missouri in the past but I wasn’t able to!
I was at the JFK Library earlier this year, and took many of the same photos you did. I loved the 1960s items, and my mom used to have a hair dryer very similar to the one displayed. It was a very fascinating museum.
Hi Sandy – I loved the 60’s stuff! I took other photos, too, but didn’t want to post too many of them. I loved walking through the museum and reading all the tidbits and information. I also liked the photos they had of the kids playing around in the Oval Office. Very nice museum! Makes me want to visit more presidential libraries.