HYANNIS – The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum is launching “Coffee @ The Kennedy Museum,” a winter speaker series that will include talks on history, civil rights, art, science, and other topics.
The museum, which honors the late president’s legacy and connection to Cape Cod, has partnered with Cape Cod Coffee as a co-sponsor for the talks, with the café supplying its JFK Hyannis Blend throughout the series.
According to museum Executive Director Wendy Northcross, the event was inspired by Kennedy family meetings hosted during JFK’s campaign to run for the U.S. Senate in 1952.
In a recent interview with CapeCod.com NewsCenter, Northcross said the women of the Kennedy family held conversations over coffee in Massachusetts homes during the campaign to promote JFK’s candidacy.
“They would have these coffee gatherings at homes all across the Commonwealth. They would invite people in and they would just talk about the family, talk about Jack’s political stripes. They were very vigorous and successful,” Northcross said.
Kennedy’s opponent credited these sit-down talks as a reason for JFK’s victory at the polls that year.
The first talk is set for February 2 and features sculptor Vanessa Hoheb, who led the efforts to restore the skin of the Statue of Liberty. Hoheb will speak of her work on the national monument as well as her personal connection to the JFK Memorial in Hyannis.
“Her family legacy with JFK is fascinating,” Northcross said. “She’s also going to talk about how she and her sculpting studio, Hoheb Studios, were involved in the restoration of the Statue of Liberty.”
Coffee @ The Kennedy Museum will run on Wednesdays at 11am in the museum’s Scudder Family Center for Civic Engagement. To buy tickets for the series or learn more about the virtual options for attending, visit the JFK Hyannis Museum’s website.
For the full Sunday Journal interview with Northcross, click here.
By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter