COURTESY JOHN F. KENNEDY HYANNIS MUSEUM.
Three Brothers: John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy at the family’s Hyannis Port home.
HYANNIS – A major new exhibit was unveiled Tuesday at the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum.
“Jack & Bobby: Brothers First” chronicles the relationship between President John F. Kennedy and his younger brother Robert F. Kennedy through more than 60 rare photographs, private letters and their own words.
The exhibit was created by New York museum exhibit designer Roger Westerman.
“He really brought together, for the museum and for all who visit, a great way of presenting a special story of two brothers that you can see, through the vision of the photos and the text, were special from the very beginning,” said Executive Director of the JFK Hyannis Museum Foundation John Allen.
Allen said the exhibit represents the future of the museum.
Cecil Stoughton/White House, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston /COURTESY JOHN F. KENNEDY HYANNIS MUSEUM
President John F. Kennedy signs the Anti-Crime Act in 1961 in the Oval Office at the White House. Standing behind him are Senator Kenneth B. Keating (left); Director, FBI, J. Edgar Hoover; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; and three unidentified men.
“It also reflects where the museum is going as we start the dream and the vision of the renovations and re-design of what we represent as a museum here on Cape Cod and what we represent as a major regional museum,” he said.
Several people attended the special opening, including Tsutomu Himeno, who is the Consulate General of Japan in Boston.
Himeno recalled reciting speeches of President Kennedy to learn the English language.
“It is so much a pleasure for me being here to actually recapture that dream of working together to see what we can do together,” he said. “In that spirit, I am really honored and privileged to be here.”
State Representative Brian Mannal (D-Centerville), who represents Barnstable’s Second District, was also on hand.
“We’re blessed to have this museum here in Hyannis,” Mannal said. “Not only because of its location, but really capitalizing on the legacy and the Kennedys’ impact on the Cape.”
Rebecca Pierce Merrick, a member of the museum’s board of directors and a museum curator, said was thrilled to unveil their first “blockbuster” special exhibit.
“I think there is so much here that is rich and wonderful and there is history how they grew as leaders in this country but it always goes back to Hyannis Port,” she said. “This always was their center. This was the place where they grew up. Where they learned so much and where they were always drawn to.”
COURTESY JOHN F. KENNEDY HYANNIS MUSEUM
President John F. Kennedy consults with his brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
JFK Hyannis Museum Foundation Board President Richard Neitz said some of his favorite parts of the exhibit are a video which shows the excitement in Hyannis Port the day of the presidential election and the subtleties of color and background in the exhibit.
“We’ve changed the background here from blue to black when JFK was assassinated,” Neitz said. “It goes back to blue and then the panel goes back to black again when Bobby Kennedy was assassinated.”
The exhibition provides new insight into the level of commitment Jack and Bobby shared for each other as captured in private moments here on the Cape and in Washington, according to museum officials.
“Jack & Bobby: Brothers First” will run through May 1, 2016.
Before the exhibit opened, third graders from Hyannis West Elementary School sang “America the Beautiful.”
