There’s no question that Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was the matriarch of one of the most famous families that Cape Cod and the United States has ever had.
So when two of her grandsons paid a visit to the John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis last year, it only reinforced the powerful image of the philanthropist and socialite known for her love of “family, faith, and public service.”
“Last year, there were two speaker events,” recalled John Allen, executive director of the JFK Museum. “Robert Kennedy Jr. spoke, and the first five or 10 minutes was spent talking about his grandmother and grandfather, and what he learned from them and experienced from being with them. Two or three weeks later, Ted Kennedy Jr. was giving a tour, and started off by talking about them, and how she was involved in their lives, and what he gained from them and then gave to his children.”
Those two gestures, along with the 100th birthday of JFK looming ahead in 2017, prompted the development of the exhibit, "Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Mother of a President," which is on display through next year at the Main Street institution.