Jean Kennedy Smith (1928-2020), an Inspiration and Role Model for the Kennedy Family

-

Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith passed away on June 17,2020 at her home in New York City. 

The JFK Foundation issued the following statement:

"Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith was an inspiration and a role model for our family. She played a central role in the Irish Peace Process, was a longtime Trustee at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and carried forward our family’s work on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities as the founder of Very Special Arts.

"With her husband, Stephen E. Smith, and her beloved brother Ted, she played a vital role in the life of the JFK Library, helping to establish the Library on Columbia Point and generously supporting the JFK Library Foundation.

"Jean was always coming up with good ideas - and making sure that other people executed them. She was the person who first suggested that the JFK Library Foundation present an annual Profile in Courage Award as a way of honoring her brother’s memory. Thirty years later, the Award has become recognized as the “Nobel Prize for Politics” and is her legacy as well.

"Her son, Stephen Kennedy Smith, carries on her work as a member of the Foundation’s board of directors and the author of JFK: A Vision for America."

In 2007, the Eire Society of Boston gave Ambassador Smith its Gold Medal Award in recognition of her extraordinary service to the arts and for her central role in Northern Ireland's peace process.  

Read the JFK Library biography of Jean Kennedy Smith.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Blazing the Trail" depicts early Irish filmmaking, showing on November 23 in Brookline

-
Image
The Boston Irish Film Festival is presenting a fresh new look at early Irish filmmaking with the presentation of Blazing the Trail: The Story of the Kalem Film Company in Ireland. The multimedia event takes place on Monday, November 23, 2009, at the historic Coolidge Corner Theater at 290 Harvard Street in Brookline, MA, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The project was created by film scholar and director Peter Flynn, founder of the Boston Irish Film Festival , and produced by Dawn Morrissey. They will show a selection of rarely-seen films from the early 20th century, as well as several short films that put the historical film in retrospect and modern context. Live music will be interspersed between the films to create an old-time Nickelodeon atmosphere. Musicians are pianist Peter Freisinger and vocalists Victoria Hayes and Liz Hayes. There is also a chance to win free tickets to this premier event through the Boston Irish Tourism Association . Tickets to the show are $9.75 and are availa
Read more

General Edward L. Logan, Namesake of Boston's Logan International Airport

-
Image
General Edward L. Logan (1875-1939), namesake of Boston’s Logan International Airport , died on July 6 1939 from a sudden 'heart ailment.'  His brother, Reverend Leo J. Logan, presided over the funeral mass at the Gate of Heaven Church in South Boston, with tributes by leading politicians like Senator David I. Walsh , former Massachusetts Governor and Boston Mayor James M. Curley and former Mayor John F. Fitzgerald .  Logan is buried at the Calvary Cemetery in West Roxbury.  A first generation Irish-American, military leader, civic leader and municipal judge with family roots in Galway and South Boston,  Edward was the oldest of nine children of Lawrence and Catherine (O’Connor), according to Michael Cummings of Milton, an expert on the Logan Family. Edward’s father Lawrence immigrated to Boston from Ballygar, County Galway, in 1858, and became a successful businessman at a young age when he became president of the Boston Brewing Company in South Boston.  The family resided a
Read more

Damian McGinty, former Celtic Thunder Star, Performs in Hartford and Providence this Fall

-
Image
Damian McGinty , the young singing star from Derry, Northern Ireland who performed with Celtic Thunder , is returning to New England in October as part of a national tour with  Ethan Bortnick . They will be performing in Hartford, CT on October 5, followed by two shows in Providence, RI on October 12, 2014. Find details here. McGinty was part of the original Celtic Thunder ensemble for several years, and left the band in 2012 when he won a coveted spot on the television show Glee .  Since then he has embarked on a solo career that has taken him around the world.  In 2013 McGinty was Cultural Ambassador for his home city of Derry, Northern Ireland . Find year round details on Celtic and Irish cultural activities at IrishMassachusetts.com .
Read more