John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site Commemorates JFK’s Life &
Legacy on Nov. 22, 2017
Brookline, Mass. - On Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, John Fitzgerald Kennedy National
Historic Site (NHS) will open to the public for a special day of commemoration, the final event
for JFK*100. National Park Rangers will hold a wreath-laying ceremony outside the house at
2:00 PM with representatives from local religious institutions, speeches from invited dignitaries
and staff, music, and ending with a 21-rifle salute to President Kennedy from the Leatherneck
Honors Society of Massachusetts. Self-guided tours will be available from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
on November 22 with free admission for all. For further information, please call 617-566-7937
or visit www.nps.gov/jofi.
During the winter months, the site is open by appointment only, Monday-Friday. We request that tour requests be made two weeks in advance. For more information, please call (617) 566-7937or visit us online at www.nps.gov/jofi, or like us on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/jfkennedynhs.
During the visitor season from May to October, guided house tours at John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS are offered Wednesday through Sunday, beginning at 10:00 AM with the final tour at 3:30PM. From 12:00-1:00 PM and 4:00-5:00PM, visitors are welcome to follow a self-guided audio tour through the house. Hand-held audio-players are available in English, French, German,Spanish, and Japanese. Supplemental printed material about the house is available in English,French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Polish,Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. Admission is free to all.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS preserves the birthplace (1917) and early boyhood home of the
35th president of the United States. The modest house was the first home shared by the
president’s parents, Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. John, the second of nine children,spent his formative years in Brookline as his family began its rise to national prominence. In1966, Mrs. Kennedy returned to 83 Beals Street to commemorate her son’s life, restoring thebirthplace to her recollection of its 1917 appearance.
Today, National Park Rangers provide tours of the nine-room house where Kennedy family
furnishings, photographs, and mementos personally collected and arranged by the president’s
mother are on exhibit. A taped narrative, featuring Mrs. Kennedy in her own words, is a unique and evocative addition to both the ranger-led and self-guided tours. John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS also invites visitors to step back into 1917 and share Mrs. Kennedy’s memories of her family’s early home via cell phone. The cell phone tour is available in English, French, German,Japanese, and Spanish. The cell phone tour is free. Normal usage rates apply. To access the tour,dial (617) 992-9172. The tour can also be accessed via the web at https://jofi.oncell.com.
A small visitor center offers exhibits, a film, bookstore, and restroom. A self-guided tour of the
neighborhood is also included in the site brochure and identifies nearby Brookline sites
associated with the Kennedy family.
-NPS
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
