#rosemary kennedy
From the early 1900s to about 1950, the Kennedy and Fitzgerald families documented their lives on nitrate photographic film. They were part of a new generation of amateur photographers utilizing a new medium that enabled them to produce numerous snapshots of everyday life – of friends and relatives, trips, holidays, and other celebratory occasions. When nitrate film became commercially available in the late 1880s, it made possible technical advancements in amateur roll film for smaller, more mobile cameras, ushering in the practice of family photography.
More than a century later, the surviving nitrate negatives from the Kennedy Family Collection have been digitized due in part to the inherently fragile and unstable nature of the medium but also to provide greater access and ensure future use while the physical objects remain safely preserved in their original format and condition.
The JFK Library is pleased to announce the completion of an 18-month grant project to catalog and provide online access to these newly digitized materials. Archivists created robust descriptions and metadata records for all of the nitrate negatives in the collection so that users can browse, search, and discover these historic photographs. Over 1,700 photographs are now available on the Library’s website. The nitrates represent a subset of photographic materials in a collection that provides access to the more personal, private moments of this prominent family not found in other historical sources.
These photos – the second in a series of posts to highlight images from this cataloging project - feature the Kennedy and Fitzgerald families as travelers and tourists, taking snapshots of historic sites and scenic views for the sake of personalizing their experiences abroad.
Follow Rose Fitzgerald on her travels as a young woman during her school year abroad (1908-1909), and with her father Mayor of Boston, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, during the Boston Chamber of Commerce tours of Europe(1911)andPanama (1913). Take note of the same countries her children would visit decades later. Or see the vacation spots the Kennedy family traveled to during their embassy years, when Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., served as U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain.
Photographs © John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a6dc94758782facaaef2b11771203dc6/tumblr_inline_pb34tgc1v91r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC1418N. Rose Fitzgerald and Agnes Fitzgerald with Unidentified Girl Aboard S.S. Cymric, ca. July 1908-August 1909
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/0c9f392d19840aba2839a9dde891e2cc/tumblr_inline_pb34tcSceF1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC1445N. Rose Fitzgerald at Windsor Castle in Windsor, Berkshire, England, ca. July-August, 1908
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/575ca686316096df503b145d329d9564/tumblr_inline_pb34syRfXS1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC1529N. Mayor John F. Fitzgerald and Rose Fitzgerald with Boston Chamber of Commerce Delegates at Royal Palace Gardens in Budapest, Hungary, ca. July-August, 1911
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c9f5321ad132fe6e513b2e3e2baf8b90/tumblr_inline_pb34svBHqX1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC1449N. Rose Fitzgerald Kisses Blarney Stone in County Cork, Ireland, ca. August 8, 1908
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/6356fbd3df9935487def75f154c662bd/tumblr_inline_pb34t81k8q1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC675N. Kathleen Kennedy Kissing Blarney Stone in County Cork, Ireland, ca. July-August, 1937
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e707ed85e470a45d6cc84c7ed1be4d64/tumblr_inline_pb34sxfwXF1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC1452N. John F. Fitzgerald and Rose Fitzgerald at Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, ca. August 1909
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/34a3895ced0fbecda2202a75cdd3086b/tumblr_inline_pb34t1ZBXX1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC702N. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Visits Giant’s Causeway in Bushmills, Northern Ireland, ca. August 1937
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/343f6bab7f1f50ff78b578282aee49b5/tumblr_inline_pb34taf78B1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC1471N. View of Eiffel Tower and Ferris Wheel in Paris, France, ca. August 4-5, 1911
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/ade20962977033a23eba88f295d8c754/tumblr_inline_pb34tjQssf1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC2834N. Edward M. Kennedy at Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, France, ca. August 4, 1950
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/9a2175dead26c9d25c6b9b52ff15c5f9/tumblr_inline_pb34svGY4u1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC1057N. Rosemary Kennedy and Betty Rice Visit Kilcroney Castle in County Wicklow, Ireland, ca. July 1-August 8, 1938
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/db5f337e6bf196a8a56364fcc93104b5/tumblr_inline_pb34t35xn11r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC646N. Kathleen Kennedy Visits Doge’s Palace in Venice, Italy, March 30, 1936
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/824b829b145bb700964966779a127466/tumblr_inline_pb34teG7hx1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC711N. View of Killiney Beach in Killiney, Ireland, ca. July-August, 1937
Read more about the project on the Library’s Blog. Photographs © John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
From the early 1900s to about 1950, the Kennedy and Fitzgerald families documented their lives on nitrate photographic film. They were part of a new generation of amateur photographers utilizing a new medium that enabled them to produce numerous snapshots of everyday life – of friends and relatives, trips, holidays, and other celebratory occasions. When nitrate film became commercially available in the late 1880s, it made possible technical advancements in amateur roll film for smaller, more mobile cameras, ushering in the practice of family photography.
More than a century later, the surviving nitrate negatives from the Kennedy Family Collection have been digitized due in part to the inherently fragile and unstable nature of the medium but also to provide greater access and ensure future use while the physical objects remain safely preserved in their original format and condition.
The JFK Library is pleased to announce the completion of an 18-month grant project to catalog and provide online access to these newly digitized materials. Archivists created robust descriptions and metadata records for all of the nitrate negatives in the collection so that users can browse, search, and discover these historic photographs. Over 1,700 photographs are now available on the Library’s website. The nitrates represent a subset of photographic materials in a collection that provides access to the more personal, private moments of this prominent family not found in other historical sources.
These photos – the first in a series of posts to highlight images from this cataloging project - feature the Kennedy and Fitzgerald families in more informal settings, at home and at play.
Photographs © John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a2c8dc2459647b0989559d2543aa232d/tumblr_inline_paoomahN901r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC233N. John F. Kennedy, Rosemary Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy, and Patricia Kennedy in Brookline, Massachusetts, May 1926
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/4b20daaad8b78c64e7219d679bc48723/tumblr_inline_paopqd7bab1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC576N. John F. Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Friends in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1936.
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/05b193700de3fefaff0dd7c80ca7b212/tumblr_inline_paoom3mJwy1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC51N. Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy with Patricia Kennedy at Malcolm Cottage in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, 1925
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/185f4d7a06f6344b66bf2f445b4ff7ac/tumblr_inline_paoomgBpaA1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC888N. Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., and Patrick Joseph Kennedy with Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., at Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts, ca. 1917
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/2c8f3d4c35396efffdf28056213b57bb/tumblr_inline_paoomswrPa1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC1946N. John F. Kennedy, Rosemary Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy, and Eunice Kennedy in Brookline, Massachusetts, ca. 1924-1925
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/d5ceb7ba83c0988cef214018013a808e/tumblr_inline_paoomz25ZJ1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC530N. Robert F. Kennedy, Jean Kennedy, and Edward M. Kennedy Play on Swing Set in Bronxville, New York, October 1934
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c2e792b77e38333ead54627cd998e3ce/tumblr_inline_paoon7Ba7j1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC2725N. Edward M. Kennedy in Bronxville, New York, ca. 1936
![image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/d2dce784856c86dd6b43ca760a41f7be/tumblr_inline_paoongatUH1r36uns_540.jpg)
KFC2069N. Eunice Fitzgerald with Chickens in Dorchester, Massachusetts, ca. 1910-1913
Read more about this project on the Library’s Blog.
Eunice, Rosemary & Jack in 1938
Eunice, Rosemary & Jack in 1938
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