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Rose Kennedy
Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and matriarch of the Kennedy family. She was deeply embedded in the "lace curtain" Irish-American community in Boston. Her father, John F. Fitzgerald, served in the Massachusetts State Senate (1892–1894), in the U.S. House of Representatives (1895–1901, 1919), and as Mayor of Boston (1906–1908, 1910–1914). Her husband, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., chaired the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (1934–1935) and the U.S. Maritime Commission (1937–1938), and served as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1938–1940). Their nine children included United States President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith. In 1951, Rose Kennedy was ennobled by Pope Pius XII, becoming the sixth American woman to be granted the rank of Papal countess.
Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald was born on July 22, 1890, at 4 Garden Court in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. She was the eldest of six children born to John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, at the time a member of the Boston Common Council, and the former Mary Josephine "Josie" Hannon.
At age 7, she moved with her family to West Concord, Massachusetts, and in 1904, they moved again, into an Italianate/Mansard-style home in the Ashmont Hill section of Dorchester, Massachusetts. Rose studied at the Blumenthal Academy of the Sacred Heart in Vaals, Netherlands, and graduated from Dorchester High School in 1906. She also attended the New England Conservatory in Boston, where she studied piano. After being refused permission by her father to attend Wellesley College, Fitzgerald enrolled at the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart (as it was then known) in Manhattan, an institution that did not grant degrees at the time. Kennedy later said that her greatest regret was "not having gone to Wellesley College," saying that it was "something I have felt a little sad about all my life." However, Rose eventually grew fond of the convent school, saying that the religious training she received became the foundation of her life.
In 1908, Fitzgerald and her father embarked on a tour of Europe and had a private audience with Pope Pius X at the Vatican.
In her teens, Rose became acquainted with her future husband, Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, whom she met while their families were vacationing at Old Orchard Beach in Maine. He was the elder son of businessman/politician Patrick Joseph "P.J." Kennedy (a political rival of "Honey Fitz") and Mary Augusta Hickey. Kennedy would go on to court Fitzgerald for more than seven years, much to her father's disapproval.
On October 7, 1914, at age 24, she married Kennedy in a modest ceremony at the small chapel of the residence of Archbishop William Henry O'Connell in Boston. They initially lived in a home in Brookline, Massachusetts, and later a 15-room cottage at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, which became the Kennedy family's lasting base. Their nine children were Joseph Jr. (1915–1944), John, called "Jack" (1917–1963), Rose Marie, called "Rosemary" (1918–2005), Kathleen, called "Kick" (1920–1948), Eunice (1921–2009), Patricia (1924–2006), Robert, called "Bobby" (1925–1968), Jean (1928–2020), and Edward, called "Ted" (1932–2009).
Joseph provided well for their family, but he was unfaithful. His affairs included one with Gloria Swanson. When Rose was eight months pregnant with the couple's fourth child, Kathleen, she temporarily went back to her parents, returning to Joseph after her father told her divorce was not an option. In turning a blind eye to her husband's affairs, Rose depended heavily on medication. Ronald Kessler found records for prescription tranquilizers Seconal, Placidyl, Librium, and Dalmane to relieve Rose's nervousness and stress, and Lomotil, Bentyl, Librax, and Tagamet for her stomach. According to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, "Rose knew what was going on, but, in my judgment, she willed that knowledge out of her mind. She didn’t want to lose her marriage. She didn’t want to lose her husband. She didn’t want to lose that family that she had created. It mattered too much to her. And I think, underneath, she knew Joe didn’t want to lose it, either."
Rose Kennedy was a strict Catholic throughout her life. Even after her 100th birthday, she rarely missed Sunday Mass and maintained an "extremely prudish" exterior. Jacqueline Kennedy described her mother-in-law in her correspondence to Father Joseph Leonard, an Irish priest: "I don't think Jack's mother is too bright – and she would rather say a rosary than read a book."
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Rose Kennedy
Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and matriarch of the Kennedy family. She was deeply embedded in the "lace curtain" Irish-American community in Boston. Her father, John F. Fitzgerald, served in the Massachusetts State Senate (1892–1894), in the U.S. House of Representatives (1895–1901, 1919), and as Mayor of Boston (1906–1908, 1910–1914). Her husband, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., chaired the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (1934–1935) and the U.S. Maritime Commission (1937–1938), and served as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1938–1940). Their nine children included United States President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith. In 1951, Rose Kennedy was ennobled by Pope Pius XII, becoming the sixth American woman to be granted the rank of Papal countess.
Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald was born on July 22, 1890, at 4 Garden Court in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. She was the eldest of six children born to John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, at the time a member of the Boston Common Council, and the former Mary Josephine "Josie" Hannon.
At age 7, she moved with her family to West Concord, Massachusetts, and in 1904, they moved again, into an Italianate/Mansard-style home in the Ashmont Hill section of Dorchester, Massachusetts. Rose studied at the Blumenthal Academy of the Sacred Heart in Vaals, Netherlands, and graduated from Dorchester High School in 1906. She also attended the New England Conservatory in Boston, where she studied piano. After being refused permission by her father to attend Wellesley College, Fitzgerald enrolled at the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart (as it was then known) in Manhattan, an institution that did not grant degrees at the time. Kennedy later said that her greatest regret was "not having gone to Wellesley College," saying that it was "something I have felt a little sad about all my life." However, Rose eventually grew fond of the convent school, saying that the religious training she received became the foundation of her life.
In 1908, Fitzgerald and her father embarked on a tour of Europe and had a private audience with Pope Pius X at the Vatican.
In her teens, Rose became acquainted with her future husband, Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, whom she met while their families were vacationing at Old Orchard Beach in Maine. He was the elder son of businessman/politician Patrick Joseph "P.J." Kennedy (a political rival of "Honey Fitz") and Mary Augusta Hickey. Kennedy would go on to court Fitzgerald for more than seven years, much to her father's disapproval.
On October 7, 1914, at age 24, she married Kennedy in a modest ceremony at the small chapel of the residence of Archbishop William Henry O'Connell in Boston. They initially lived in a home in Brookline, Massachusetts, and later a 15-room cottage at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, which became the Kennedy family's lasting base. Their nine children were Joseph Jr. (1915–1944), John, called "Jack" (1917–1963), Rose Marie, called "Rosemary" (1918–2005), Kathleen, called "Kick" (1920–1948), Eunice (1921–2009), Patricia (1924–2006), Robert, called "Bobby" (1925–1968), Jean (1928–2020), and Edward, called "Ted" (1932–2009).
Joseph provided well for their family, but he was unfaithful. His affairs included one with Gloria Swanson. When Rose was eight months pregnant with the couple's fourth child, Kathleen, she temporarily went back to her parents, returning to Joseph after her father told her divorce was not an option. In turning a blind eye to her husband's affairs, Rose depended heavily on medication. Ronald Kessler found records for prescription tranquilizers Seconal, Placidyl, Librium, and Dalmane to relieve Rose's nervousness and stress, and Lomotil, Bentyl, Librax, and Tagamet for her stomach. According to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, "Rose knew what was going on, but, in my judgment, she willed that knowledge out of her mind. She didn’t want to lose her marriage. She didn’t want to lose her husband. She didn’t want to lose that family that she had created. It mattered too much to her. And I think, underneath, she knew Joe didn’t want to lose it, either."
Rose Kennedy was a strict Catholic throughout her life. Even after her 100th birthday, she rarely missed Sunday Mass and maintained an "extremely prudish" exterior. Jacqueline Kennedy described her mother-in-law in her correspondence to Father Joseph Leonard, an Irish priest: "I don't think Jack's mother is too bright – and she would rather say a rosary than read a book."
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