New Exhibit on John F. Kennedy Jr. Opens at the John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis, Cape Cod

A poignant exhibit entitled “We Remember John F. Kennedy, Jr.” is on display at the John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis, Cape Cod now through December 2024. 

 It features President Kennedy’s beloved son John Jr. in an array of extraordinary images of John Jr. alone, and with his father, mother, sister, and wife.   Arranged thematically, the exhibit uses video, photos, quotes, text, and artifacts to lovingly portray John F. Kennedy Jr. who, like his father, had every gift but length of years. 

Born two weeks after JFK was elected President of the United States, John F. Kennedy Jr. grew up in the spotlight. Whether it was at Hyannis Port, at the White House during his father’s presidency or years later in Manhattan, JFK Jr. captivated the world. 

Along with his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and her sister Lauren, JFK Jr. died in a plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard on July 16, 1999, on the way to a cousin’s wedding at the Kennedy Compound on Cape Cod. He was 38 years old. 

As his uncle Senator Ted Kennedy said at his funeral, “From the first day of his life, John seemed to belong not only to our family, but to the American Family.” 

Wendy K. Northcross, executive director at John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum Foundation, said, “John also belonged to the Cape Cod family. It was here that he enchanted us as a little boy and later beguiled us as an adult visiting the family home in Hyannis Port. He felt comfortable walking down Main Street, Hyannis and sometimes visited us here at the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum.” 

Other exhibits at the JFK Museum this year include “Presidential Summers: The Kennedys on Cape Cod,” "Robert F. Kennedy: Ripple of Hope,” and “John F. Kennedy’s Rocking Chair.” 

Visitors can also attend author readings at the museum and take a stroll on the Kennedy Legacy Trail Walk around Hyannis through summer and fall. 

The Kennedy presence on Cape Cod goes back nearly a century when President Kennedy’s parents, Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, first began vacationing at the famous Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port. Cape Cod was where “President Kennedy could relax and feel at home, even while bearing the weight of the world,” notes the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum. 

Over the decades, scores of other Irish-Americans spent summer vacations on Cape Cod and many of them ended up staying or retiring here. The US Census 2022 American Community Survey reports that 26.2% of residents in Barnstable County have Irish ancestry, or more than one in four residents.  Read more about the Cape Cod Irish. 

In addition to the Kennedys, other famous Irish-Americans with Cape connections include Nobel Prize winning playwright Eugene O’Neill and Cambridge-born Speaker of the House Thomas ‘Tip’ O’Neill. 

The John F. Kennedy Museum is located at 397 Main Street, Hyannis, MA, and is open year round Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museum is ADA accessible, and free parking and group rates are available.

This story originally appeared in The Irish Echo newspaper.  Research + Text, Michael Quinlin