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American Visionary: John F. Kennedy’s Life and Times at the New-York Historical Society

When you look at the photographs in the new exhibit American Visionary: John F. Kennedy’s Life and Times at the New York Historical Society (on view through January 7, 2018), you’ll probably have the sensation that you’ve seen them all before: JFK in the White House, his kids joyfully playing nearby; JFK with wife Jackie at an event, both of them elegant and assured. You feel like you’re intimately acquainted with the photos; a few of them, in fact, you’ll feel like you know as well as you do your own family photos.

American Visionary John F. Kennedy's Life and Times

Photo booth portrait, 1953. (Courtesy John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)

When you look more closely, though, you’ll realize that, yes, you’ve definitely seen some of them before—but others you just feel like you have, because the images and the Kennedy Era are such an indelible part of the American consciousness. (In actuality, several images in this exhibition have only rarely been seen before.) We felt like we knew the Kennedys; we wanted to be them. Say the name “Herbert Hoover,” and for many people, not many pictures come to mind. Say the name “John F. Kennedy,” however, and a wealth of images spring into being.

That, of course, was the incredible allure of JFK and his White House—they’re familiar and personal, but they’re also part of a world that seems glittering and rarefied. Kennedy's idealism captured everything we hoped the country could be; his passion for the causes he believed in and his rallying cries to support those beliefs (“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”) captured the world’s imagination. Not for nothing was the Kennedy White House referred to as Camelot.

JFK First Couple Inauguration

The First Couple head to the inauguration ceremony, Washington, D.C., January 20, 1961.
Photo credit: Paul Schutzer (Courtesy The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

The well-curated exhibition at the New-York Historical Society is also being held concurrently at the Smithsonian Art Museum in Washington, D.C.; it’s part of a celebration of JFK’s centennial. The exhibit is based on the new book JFK: A Vision for America by Stephen Kennedy Smith (Kennedy’s nephew) and Douglas Brinkley. The photos were assembled from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Getty Images, private collections, and the Kennedy family archives.

In the exhibit, we see both the public and privates sides of JFK—an image of the president and his bride, newly married; the president playing with infant daughter Caroline in her bassinet; gaggles of carefree Kennedy cousins and nieces and nephews. Public images include a wonderful picture that encapsulates the adoration felt by so many Americans: a group of spectators peer in a window as Kennedy prepares for a campaign speech. We see the president bent over in pain in the Oval Office, coping with a bad back; boarding his private plane; on a campaign stop; waiting for election results. We observe a devastating Jackie Kennedy leaving the White House the day of JFK’s funeral.

The photographs chart not just JFK's trajectory as politician, but also the cultural and historical pulse of this country. Photojournalism was at its apex, with such luminaries as Philippe Halsman, Ed Clark, and Lisl Steiner capturing unforgettable images. These days, we’re inundated with images of both public and private figures; at the time, Kennedy was the most photographed politician of his era.

Kennedy draws audience preparing speech 1960

Kennedy draws an unintended audience while preparing a speech, Baltimore, Maryland, September 1960.
Photo credit: Paul Schutzer (Courtesy The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Today, we look at the photos through the veil of both nostalgia and hindsight, knowing, of course, what would happen to both the young president, his presidency, and the Kennedy family in the years ahead. The exhibit offers a wonderful opportunity to observe a world both familiar and lostand to reflect on both where the country was, and where we're heading.

For more information, visit nyhistory.org.

About the Author

Evan Levy runs fable & lark, which offers interactive museum tours inspired by great stories. See fableandlark.com for all the details. In addition, she's the author of two children's picture books. She loves stories in any form, and lives in New York with her family.

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