Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter (38 page)

[>]
“Because I did not know”:
Interviews with Ann Gargan King and Luella Hennessey Donovan in DKG, 643.

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“eminent medical specialists”:
TTR,
245.

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Her “whole life is wrapped up”:
Sister Sheila of Saint Coletta, quoted in Zyda, “The Kennedy No One Knows.”

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One woman, Gloria:
Zyda, “The Kennedy No One Knows.”

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“the solution to Rosemary’s problem”:
Letter, JPK to Sister Anastasia, May 29, 1958, JPKP, box 26.

9. ROSEMARY MADE THE DIFFERENCE

[>]
Family weddings:
See, for example, “Those Kennedy Kids,”
Sunday News,
March 11, 1954, “Clippings,” RFKP, box 121; and
Harold H. Martin, “The Amazing Kennedys,”
Saturday Evening Post,
September 7, 1957, 44.

[>]
“We have tried”
and following: “Elizabeth M. Boggs, Oral History Interview—JFK#1,” July 17, 1968, JFKPL.

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“He didn’t have to tell”:
Elizabeth Boggs, interview by Edward Shorter, February 24, 1993, in Edward Shorter,
The Kennedy Family and the Story of Mental Retardation
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), 84.

[>]
Jack experienced a transformed: LL,
The Kennedy Men,
280, based on Leamer’s examination of institutional records and an interview with Bob Healey, a reporter for the
Boston Globe.
LL, The Kennedy Men, 280, based on Leamer’s examination of institutional records and an interview with Bob Healey, a reporter for the Boston Globe.

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Eunice approached her father:
Shorter,
The Kennedy Family,
67; “Robert E. Cooke, Oral History Interview—JFK #1,” March 29, 1968, JFKPL; and “Robert E. Cooke, Oral History Interview—JFK #2,” July 25, 1968, JFKPL.

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The hospital . . . “is doing so much”:
Letter, EKS to JPK and RFK, August 27, 1958, RFKP, box 12.

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They established:
“Robert E. Cooke, Oral History Interview—JFK #2,” July 25, 1968, JFKPL.

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“as concerned with care”:
Shorter,
The Kennedy Family,
7.

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The Shrivers proposed:
“Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Oral History Interview—JFK#1,” May 7, 1968, JFKPL.

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Other doctors and scientists:
“Robert E. Cooke, Oral History Interview—JFK #1,” March 29, 1968, JFKPL.

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the foundation had committed:
Shorter,
The Kennedy Family,
42–45.

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one of eleven senators:
“U.S. Action Awaited on Key MR Legislation,”
Children Limited,
May 1958; and Elizabeth M. Boggs, “Statement on S. 395, and Related Bills Concerning Advanced Professional Training in the Field of Education of the Mentally Retarded, 1958–1966” (unpublished manuscript), 9–10, Elizabeth M. Boggs Papers, JFKPL.

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“Rosemary, the eldest”
and following: “The Campaign: Pride of the Clan,”
Time,
July 11, 1960.

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“Rosemary is in a nursing home”:
Nan Robertson, “Kennedy Clan United on Coast as Senator Faces the Outsiders,”
New York Times,
July 10, 1960.

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“The story had just come out”:
“John Seigenthaler, Oral History Interview—JFK #1,” July 22, 1964, JFKPL.

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“the President elect”:
Children Limited,
December 1960, Elizabeth M. Boggs Papers, box 1, JFKPL.

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“No capital should be made”:
“Elizabeth M. Boggs, Oral History Interview—JFK#1,” July 17, 1968, JFKPL.

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In the spring of 1961: “Robert E. Cooke, Oral History Interview—JFK#2,” July 25, 1968, JFKPL.
“Robert E. Cooke, Oral History Interview—JFK#2,” July 25, 1968, JFKPL.

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Focusing on the physical well-being:
Shorter,
The Kennedy Family,
111–15.

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“He is still very vital”:
“1963: March–April, Europe,” diaries, RFKP, box 4.

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“She was a beautiful child”
and following: Eunice Kennedy Shriver, “Hope for Retarded Children,”
Saturday Evening Post,
September 22, 1962.

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The institute would focus:
The institute was renamed the Eunice Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development by Congress in 2007. See the institute’s page on the National Institutes of Health website, at
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/Pages/index.aspx
.

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Five days later:
Shorter,
The Kennedy Family,
78–89.

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“Special Message”:
“Papers of John F. Kennedy, Presidential Papers, President’s Office Files, Legislative Files, Special Message on mental illness and mental retardation,” February 5, 1963,
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKPOF-042-036.aspx
.

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The Maternal and Child . . . Amendments:
These amendments are known as PL88-156; see National Institutes of Health,
http://history.nih.gov/research/downloads/PL88-156.pdf
.

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Also, in October:
This act is known as PL88-164; see National Institutes of Health,
http://history.nih.gov/research/downloads/PL88-164.pdf
.

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In a joint venture
and following: Shorter,
The Kennedy Family,
129–40.

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The Special Olympics today:
See the Special Olympics website at
http://www.specialolympics.org/
.

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“was nervous and uncomfortable”:
Rita Dallas and Jeanira Ratcliffe,
The Kennedy Case
(New York: Putnam, 1973), 143.

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Though Eunice started visiting:
Letter, RFK to Unknown, March 28, 1972, RFKP, box 57. Most of the correspondence between Rose and the staff at Saint Coletta in this collection regarding Rosemary and her care has been heavily redacted.

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“Rosemary showed disturbing signs”:
“The Tragic Story of . . . the Daughter JFK’s Mother Had to Give Up,”
National Enquirer,
November 5, 1967.

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“Thank you very much”:
“Condolence letters to others, 1969–1972,” RFKP, box 73.

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Rose first visited Rosemary:
Historian Laurence Leamer believed that Rose visited Rosemary shortly after Rosemary was settled into Saint Coletta (LL,
The Kennedy Women,
413); historian David Nasaw believed that Joe Sr. had not seen Rosemary for the twenty-five years before his own death, in 1969, and that Rose and Rosemary’s siblings began to see Rosemary only sometime in the 1960s (DN, 630–31); and Doris Kearns Goodwin believed that Rose did not visit Rosemary until sometime after 1961, when Joe Sr. had had a stroke and could not stop her (DKG, 643).

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“in the back of my mind”:
Interview with Sister Margaret Ann in LL,
The Kennedy Women,
412–13.

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“Sometime I should like”:
Letter, RFK to Thomas J. Walsh, February 27, 1969, RFKP, box 57.

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In March 1970:
“RFK Schedules, 1969–1972,” November 30–December 1, 1970, RFKP, box 125.

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“some little gifts”:
Letter, Diane Winter to Sister Caritas [
sic
], December 17, 1970, RFKP, box 57.

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“I wish . . . you would send”:
Letter, RFK to “Children,” December 17, 1970, RFKP, box 57.

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“I am sure we are all very grateful”:
Letter, RFK to Sister Sheila, March 29, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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“as you know”:
Letter, EKS to Sister Sheila, April 6, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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Dr. Raymond W. M. Chun:
Letter, Sister Sheila to RFK, May 12, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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“if [only] this could have been done”:
Letter, Sister Charitas to RFK, April 25, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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“It seems the longer she is off”:
Letter, Sister Mary Charles to RFK, November 14, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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“Because we feel”:
Letter, Sister Sheila to RFK, May 12, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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“My doctor . 
.
 . said”:
Letter, Sister Charitas to RFK, April 25, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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“a rather expensive frame”:
Letter, Madeline Sulad to Sister Charitas, July 30, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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He “sings his little heart out”:
Letter, Sister Charitas to RFK, November 12, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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“with all the indignation”:
Letter, Sister Mary Charles to RFK, November 14, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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Rosemary was finding it “difficult”:
Letter, Sister Mary Charles to RFK, November 12, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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“Many times the three of us”:
Ibid.

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“I don’t like”:
Letter, Sister Paulus to RFK, November 14, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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“I would like to emphasize again”:
Letter, EKS to Sister Paula [
sic
], January 11, 1972, RFKP, box 57.

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“Mrs. Kennedy wanted you to know”:
Letter, Madeline Sulad to Sister Paulus, January 19, 1972, RFKP, box 57.

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“Mrs. Kennedy is very involved”:
Letter, Madeline Sulad to Sister Paulus, January 4, 1972, RFKP, box 57.

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Days before Christmas 1971:
Letter, Felice Lenz, R.N., to RFK, December 29, 1971, RFKP, box 57.

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Rose may have felt:
Letter, Madeline Sulad to Felice Lenz, R.N, January 5, 1972, RFKP, box 57.

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“Mrs. Shriver has followed”:
Letter, RFK to Unknown, March 28, 1972, RFKP, box 57.

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“We understand”:
Letter, Unknown to RFK, March 2, 1972, RFKP, box 57.

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“Her mind is gone completely”:
RFK, interview by Robert Coughlan, January 14, 21, and 24, 1972, RFKP, box 10.

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“Rose had an accident”:
Ibid.

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Within a month:
EKS, interview by Robert Coughlan, February 26, 1972, RFKP, box 10. See also Barbara A. Perry,
Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch
(New York: Norton, 2013), 166. Perry discovered that the word
lobotomy,
misspelled as “labadomy,” had been redacted, so she made a formal request to the library to have the redaction removed, and it complied.

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the fact of the lobotomy:
TTR,
244–45.

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“And then I think sometimes”
and following: RFK, interview by Robert Coughlan, January 11, 1972, RFKP, box 10.

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“She was sure”:
LL,
The Kennedy Women,
674.

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“I cannot understand”:
Letter, RFK to Sister Sheila, August 17, 1972, RFKP, box 57.

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“buy presents for Rosemary”:
Letter, Madeline Sulad to Sister Paulus, August 30, 1972, RFKP, box 57.

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Sister Paulus agreed:
Letter, Sister Paulus to RFK, (early September 1972), RFKP, box 57.

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Noting, first, her pleasure:
Letter, RFK to Sister Paulus, December 28, 1972, RFKP, box 55.

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“do[ing] the little things”:
Letter, Sister Mary Charles to RFK, June 21, 1973, RFKP, box 57.

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Rose told Coughlan in 1972:
RFK, interview by Robert Coughlan, January 7, 1972, RFKP, box 10.

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“Bronxville” . 
.
 . “European”:
LL,
The Kennedy Women,
682.

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“I was wondering”:
Letter, RFK to Sister Sheila, July 19, 1974, RFKP, box 57.

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Assured that Rosemary would be fine:
Letter, Sister Sheila to RFK, July 23, 1974, RFKP, box 57.

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Saint Coletta preferred:
Barbara Gibson and Ted Schwarz,
Rose Kennedy and Her Family: The Best and Worst of Their Lives and Times
(New York: Birch Lane Press, 1995), 69–70.

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“Of course, I would like”:
Letter, RFK to EKS, January 8, 1975, RFKP, box 58.

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“I don’t have a favorite”:
Document dated 1971, “Rose Kennedy Personal Files, 1975–1977,” RFKP, box 126.

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Rose sent a letter to Pat:
Letter, RFK to Patricia Kennedy Lawford, April 17, 1975, RFKP, box 58.

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they did not fulfill the obligation:
Letter, RFK to Patricia Kennedy Lawford and Jean Kennedy Smith, June 15, 1975, RFKP, box 58.

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“With reference to Eunice”:
Letter, RFK to Jean Kennedy Smith, n.d., RFKP, box 59.

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The next letter:
Letter, RFK to Jean Kennedy Smith, n.d., RFKP, box 59.

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Mother–daughter tension ran deep:
LL,
The Kennedy Women,
751.

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Rosemary “came bouncing up”:
Interview with Jim Connor in ibid., 681.

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Another family staff member
and following: Interview with Bob Davidoff in LL,
The Kennedy Women,
681.

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“Arbarb”:
Gibson and Schwarz,
Rose Kennedy and Her Family,
67.

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Rosemary . . . looked “straight ahead”:
Ibid., 67–68.

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“Rosie . 
.
 . Rosie”:
From a manuscript by niece Kerry McCarthy, quoted in LL,
The Kennedy Women,
682.

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She recalled Rose’s instructions:
Gibson and Schwarz,
Rose Kennedy and Her Family,
chap. 4 in particular.

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“President Kennedy’s sister”:
“Sister Gets News,”
Milwaukee Sentinel,
November 23, 1963.