CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF THE JFK LIBRARY
On October 20, 2019 we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Library. On that day in 1979, more than 10,000 people gathered at the Library for the dedication. Over 35 million people had contributed to the construction fund, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy and President Jimmy Carter were among those who spoke about the significance of this Library. Joseph P. Kennedy II shared this quote from his father, the late Sen. Robert Kennedy:
"The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic towards common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American society."
We seek to continue that legacy: to not be content with the status quo, but to seek new opportunities and to build upon the ideals that founded our American Experiment and Library.
Alan Price
JFK Library Director
Steven Rothstein
JFK Library Foundation Director
CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF THE JFK LIBRARY
Learn About the JFK Library's Beginnings
Starting on October 20, experience the new hands-on cart program "Building the Kennedy Library" to learn more about architect I.M. Pei, view construction photos, touch a model of the building, and read letters from members of the public who shared their support. Check calendar for times.
https://www.jfklibrary.org/about-us/social-media-apps/jfk35-podcast/the-jfk-library-turns-40
The JFK Library turns 40 AUDIO
https://soundcloud.com/user-891198908-250000678/the-jfk-library-turns-40
On October 20, 1979, the JFK Presidential Library and Museum opened to the public. 40 years later, we speak with the first two directors of the JFK Library, Dan Fenn and Chuck Daly, as they describe the events that led up to the Library’s dedication and their work establishing the Library’s mission as a place for education and discussion of public service, politics, the arts, and other pillars of President Kennedy’s legacy. We will also speak with current Library Director Alan Price about the Library’s work today and his vision for the future.
From 1979: Architect I.M. Pei on the JFK Library
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVf6j-3_lN0
I.M. Pei, one of the most heralded of 20th century architects, died on May 16, 2019 at the age of 102. In this "CBS Sunday Morning" report which aired on October 21, 1979, Pei talked with correspondent Marlene Sanders as they toured Boston's newly-dedicated John F. Kennedy Presidential Library (which he designed), and discussed creating a public space that captured the essence, and promise, of the man who was our nation's 35th president.
I. M. Pei
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei (Chinese: 貝聿銘), FAIA, RIBA (English: /joʊ.mɪŋ.ˈpeɪ/ yoh-ming-PAY 26 April 1917 – 16 May 2019) was a Chinese-American architect. Born in Guangzhou but raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the garden villas at Suzhou, the traditional retreat of the scholar-gentry to which his family belonged. In 1935, he moved to the United States and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania's architecture school, but he quickly transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was unhappy with the focus at both schools on Beaux-Arts architecture, and spent his free time researching emerging architects, especially Le Corbusier. After graduating, he joined the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and became a friend of the Bauhaus architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. In 1948, Pei was recruited by New York City real estate magnate William Zeckendorf, for whom he worked for seven years before establishing his own independent design firm, I. M. Pei & Associates, in 1955, which became I. M. Pei & Partners in 1966 and later in 1989 became Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Pei retired from full-time practice in 1990. In his retirement, he worked as an architectural consultant primarily from his sons' architectural firm Pei Partnership Architects.
Pei's first major recognition came with the Mesa Laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado (designed in 1961, and completed in 1967). His new stature led to his selection as chief architect for the John F. Kennedy Library in Massachusetts. He went on to design Dallas City Hall and the East Building of the National Gallery of Art. He returned to China for the first time in 1975 to design a hotel at Fragrant Hills, and designed Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, a skyscraper in Hong Kong for the Bank of China fifteen years later. In the early 1980s, Pei was the focus of controversy when he designed a glass-and-steel pyramid for the Musée du Louvre in Paris. He later returned to the world of the arts by designing the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, the Miho Museum in Japan, Shigaraki, near Kyoto, and the chapel of the junior and high school: MIHO Institute of Aesthetics, the Suzhou Museum in Suzhou,[6] Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, and the Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art, abbreviated to Mudam, in Luxembourg.
Pei won a wide variety of prizes and awards in the field of architecture, including the AIA Gold Medal in 1979, the first Praemium Imperiale for Architecture in 1989, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in 2003. In 1983, he won the Pritzker Prize, which is sometimes referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture.
Pei's wife of over 70 years, Eileen Loo, died on 20 June 2014. Together they had three sons, T'ing Chung (1945–2003), Chien Chung (b. 1946; known as Didi), and Li Chung (b. 1949; known as Sandi); and a daughter, Liane (b. 1960). T'ing Chung was an urban planner and alumnus of his father's alma mater MIT and Harvard. Chieng Chung and Li Chung, who are both Harvard College and Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni, founded and run Pei Partnership Architects. Liane is a lawyer.
In 2015, Pei's home health aide, Eter Nikolaishvili, grabbed Pei's right forearm and twisted it, resulting in bruising and bleeding and hospital treatment. Pei alleges that the alleged assault occurred when Pei threatened to call the police about Nikolaishvili. Nikolaishvili agreed to plead guilty in 2016.
Pei celebrated his 100th birthday on 26 April 2017. He died peacefully in Manhattan on 16 May 2019 at the age of 102. He was survived by three of his children, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_Presidential_Library_and_Museum
I M Pei, Louvre pyramid architect, dies aged 102
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-48303529
Architect I.M. Pei dies at 102
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVcuu8DgCmo
The 60 Minutes Interview: I.M. Pei
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6DIeXWzSPw