Guide to the Collection of John F. Kennedy materials, 1945-1975
John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu
Published in 2024
Collection Overview
| Title: | Collection of John F. Kennedy materials |
| Date range: | 1945-1975 |
| Creator: | Tinker, Harold L. |
| Extent: | 165 items |
| Abstract: | The collection's significance is greatly enhanced by the personal nature of the exchange of letters between John F. Kennedy and Harold L. Tinker. The subject matter of the correspondence includes Kennedy's comments on the life and career of his older brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.; his thought on the senselessness of war; his ambition to do what he could in the future to prevent another war; and personal and familial matters. The collection also includes additional correspondence between Tinker and other individuals, including Mrs. Rose Kennedy, personal friends of Kennedy, and Tinker's own friends and acquaintances. The magazine and newspaper materials document Kennedy's political fortunes, his family's activities, his assassination and reactions to it; and various types of memorial tributes to him. |
| Language of materials: | English |
| Repository: | John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts |
| Collection number: | Ms.78.16 |
Scope & content
The collection's significance is greatly enhanced by the personal nature of the exchange of letters between John F. Kennedy and Harold L. Tinker. The subject matter of the correspondence includes Kennedy's comments on the life and career of his older brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.; his thought on the senselessness of war; his ambition to do what he could in the future to prevent another war; and personal and familial matters.The collection also includes additional correspondence between Tinker and other individuals, including Mrs. Rose Kennedy, personal friends of Kennedy, and Tinker's own friends and acquaintances.
The magazine and newspaper materials document Kennedy's political fortunes, his family's activities, his assassination and reactions to it; and various types of memorial tributes to him.
Access Points
Subject TopicsArrangement
The collection is divided into six series:
- Series I: John F. Kennedy
- Series II: Correspondence by others
- Series III: Miscellaneous materials
- Series IV: Magazines or magazine articles from Time or Newsweek
- Series V: Magazines or magazine articles from Life or Look
- Series VI:Newspapers and news clippings
Please note that the original letters by Kennedy are not housed with this collection but rather located elsewhere in the library. Copies of all his materials are provided in this collection to facilitate research.
Also, please note that file folder numbers immediately followed by an "X' indicate oversize storage. Please bring this to the attention of the library page.
To utilize any or all of the collection of Kennedy materials, please request the collection by collection number: Ms 78.16, plus the box and folder number(s) where applicable; in the case of oversize materials, only the collection number plus appropriate folder number is required.
Historical note
The John F. Kennedy collection was given to Brown University in 1976 by Harold L. Tinker, a former instructor of Kennedy in his prep school days. Mr Tinker, who taught at Choate School, Wallingford, Connecticut from 1923 to 1962, maintained a close personal friendship with John Kennedy from the time of Kennedy's attendance at Choate School in the 1930's until the year of his death.The collection includes some forty books by and about Kennedy (see appended list ); numerous magazines and newspapers and articles clipped from them; incidental correspondence; photographs and other types of ephemera; and finally, and most importantly, a number of letters from Kennedy to Tinker.
Access & Use
| Access to the collection: | There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested. |
| Use of the materials: | Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Brown University Library. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them. |
| Preferred citation: | Collection of John F. Kennedy materials, Ms. 78.16, Brown University Library. |
| Contact information: | John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu |
Administrative Information
| ABOUT THE COLLECTION | |
| Acquisition: | The John F. Kennedy collection was given to the University in 1976 by Harold L. Tinker (class of 1921). |
| ABOUT THE FINDING AID | |
| Author: | Finding aid prepared by Brown University Staff. |
| Encoding: | This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-01-18. |
| Descriptive rules: | Describing Archives: A Content Standard |
Additional Information
Inventory
Series I. John F. Kennedy
Subseries A. Correspondence
| Container | Description | Date |
| Box 1, Folder 1 | Correspondence |
1945-1947 |
| Tinker, Harold Lauren to Kennedy, John. F. Contents Note: Copy of letter from H.L. Tinker which prompted Kennedy to write. |
1945 January 18 |
| Kennedy, John F. to Tinker Harold Lauren Contents Note: Kennedy writes about death of older brother, Joseph, and his intention of compiling a memorial book to him and comments on senselessness of war. |
1945 February 9 |
| Forrestal, James (Secretary of the Navy) Contents Note: Copy of Navy commendation for Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. |
| Kennedy, John F. to Tinker, Harold Lauren Contents Note: Kennedy gives brief sketch of Joseph's career. |
1946 February 20 |
| Kennedy, John F. to Tinker, Harold Lauren Contents Note: Letter from John F. Kennedy to H. L. Tinker thanking him for the congratulations and apologizing for not getting a chance to speak to him in greater length on the weekend. |
1947 February 7 |
| Kennedy, John F. to Tinker, Harold Lauren Contents Note: Invitation cards and newsclipping about launching of Navy vessel named for Joseph. |
circa 1945-1947 |
| Kennedy, John F. to Tinker, Harold Lauren Contents Note: Letter thanking H. L. Tinker. |
1947 October 31 |
| Box 1, Folder 2 | Correspondence |
1953-1963 |
| Kennedy, John F. to Tinker, Harold Lauren Contents Note: Invitation (personal and formal cards) to Kennedy's wedding. |
1953 September 23 |
| Kennedy, John F. to Tinker, Harold Lauren Contents Note: Letter thanking H.L. Tinker for painting sent when in the hospital. |
1955 January |
| Kennedy, John F. to Tinker, Harold Lauren Contents Note: Brief note thanking H.L. Tinker for Christmas card. |
1957 January 12 |
| Kennedy, John F. to Tinker, Harold Lauren Contents Note: Thanking H. L. Tinker for the congratulations on election to presidency. |
1960 December 2 |
| Kennedy, John F. to Tinker, Harold Lauren Contents Note: Thanking H. L. Tinker for sympathy note. |
1963 August |
Subseries B. Printed Materials
| Container | Description | Date |
| Box 1, Folder 3 | "Liberty is in your hands" Contents Note: The Boston Transcript |
1946 Jun |
| Box 1, Folder 3 | "New England and the south" Contents Note: The Atlantic |
1954 Jan |
| Box 1, Folder 3 | "The Candidates and the Arts" ( Response to Saturday Review's questionnaire ) Contents Note: Saturday Review |
1960 Oct 29 |
| Box 1, Folder 3 | "An address by John F. Kennedy delivered before the Massachusetts Legislature" |
1961 Jan 09 |
| Box 1, Folder 3 | "World Peace" Contents Note: Speech delivered at American University. |
1963 Jun 10 |
Series II. Correspondence by others
| Container | Description | Date |
| Box 1, Folder 4 | Billings, Le Moyne and Griswold, Mary Contents Note: BIllings writes of his friendship with John Kennedy at Choate and later; Griswold: personal to Tinker. |
1967, 1971 |
| Box 1, Folder 5 | Kennedy, Joseph P. and Rose Contents Note: Printed card for sympathy on J.F.K.'s death;: Three letters dealing with Tinker's memorial speech for Kennedy at Choate School; also Mrs. Kennedy's request for and receipt of copies of Kennedy's letters to Tinker. |
1967 May -1967 Jun |
| Box 1, Folder 6 | Leinbach, Earl G.; St. John, Seymour; Wuerth, Gustave C. Contents Note: Leinbach: congratulates Tinker on Choate School speech for Kennedy; St John: comments on Kennedy's death and funeral; gives some Kennedy quotes; Wuerth: personal to Tinker. |
1961, 1963, 1967 |
Series III. Miscellaneous materials
| Container | Description | Date |
| Box 1, Folder 7 | Dedication service at Choate School Contents Note: A limited edition copy of H.L. Tinker's memorial speech on Kennedy; Mrs Rose Kennedy's response (typescript); 2 copies of program dedicating Robert Berks' sculpture of Kennedy. |
| Box 1, Folder 8 | Miscellaneous ephemera Contents Note: Facsimile of part of Kennedy speech; Broadside: John Fitzgerald Kennedy (supplement to American Heritage (1963 December); In Memory, John F. Kennedy: pamphlet prepared by Choate School; John Fitzgerald Kennedy: National Historic Site brochure; The John F. Kennedy Library Exhibit: pamphlet; Christmas card with reproduction of Kennedy's signature in Choate School Register; copy of Christmas card reproducing a painting by Mrs. John F. Kennedy. |
| Photographs Contents Note: Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (from Boston Sunday Herald: 1963 December 8) Launching of U.S.S. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. |
Series IV. Magazines and magazine articles from Time or Newsweek.
| Container | Description | Date |
| Box 1, Folder 10-12 | Magazines and magazine articles Contents Note: Articles on Kennedy from Presidential campaign through memorial tributes after assassination. |
1960 July 25 - 1963 Dec 07 |
| Box 2, Folder 1-5 | Magazines and magazine articles Contents Note: Includes memorial booklets on Kennedy; one on Mrs. John F. Kennedy; also material dealing with Edward Kennedy and the Mary Jo Kopechne incident. |
1964-1974 |
Series V. Magazines and magazines articles from Life or Look
| Container | Description | Date |
| Box 2, Folder 1X | Magazines and magazine articles |
1957-1961 |
| Box 2, Folder 2X | Magazines and magazine articles |
1963 |
| Box 2, Folder 3X | Magazines and magazine articles Contents Note: Memorial editions from Life or Look. |
| Box 2, Folder 4X | Magazines and magazine articles |
1964 |
| Box 2, Folder 5X | Magazines and magazine articles Contents Note: Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. on Kennedy. |
1965 |
| Box 2, Folder 6X | Magazines and magazine articles Contents Note: Theodore C. Sorensen, Adlai E. Stevenson, and Theodore H. White. |
| Box 2, Folder 7X | Magazines and magazine articles Contents Note: Warren Report |
1966 |
| Box 2, Folder 8X-9X | Magazines and magazine articles Contents Note: William Manchester: The Death of a President: Look. |
1967 |
| Box 2, Folder 10X-11X | Magazines and magazine articles |
1968-1969 |
Series VI. Newspapers and news clippings
| Container | Description | Date |
| Box 2, Folder 1XX | N.Y. Journal- American |
1961 Jan 19 |
| Box 2, Folder 1XX | The New York Times |
1961 Jan 21 |
| Box 2, Folder 1XX | The New York Times |
1961 Jan 22 |
| Box 2, Folder 2XX | The Boston Globe |
1963 Nov 23 |
| Box 2, Folder 2XX | The New York Times |
1963 Nov 23 |
| Box 2, Folder 2XX | Boston Sunday Herald |
1963 Nov 24 |
| Box 2, Folder 2XX | The New York Times |
1963 Nov 24 |
| Box 2, Folder 2XX | The Boston Herald |
1963 Nov 25 |
| Box 2, Folder 2XX | The New York Times |
1963 Nov 25 |
| Box 2, Folder 3XX | The Boston Herald |
1963 Nov 26 |
| Box 2, Folder 3XX | The New York Times |
1963 Nov 26 |
| Box 2, Folder 3XX | The Boston Herald |
1963 Nov 27 |
| Box 2, Folder 4XX | Miscellaneous pages |
1964 |
| Box 2, Folder 5XX | Miscellaneous newspaper clippings |
| Adler, Bill Contents Note: The Kennedy Wit New York, The Citadel Press. |
1965 |
| Barnes, Clare, Jr. Contents Note: John F. Kennedy, Scrimshaw Collector. Boston & Toronto, Little, Brown & Co. |
1969 |
| Blair, Joan & Clay, Jr. Contents Note: The Search for J.F.K. New York, Berkeley Publ. Corp. |
1976 |
| Blair, Joan & Clay, Jr. Contents Note: Book of the Month Club News. n.p, Book-of-the-Month-Club-Inc. |
1967 Apr |
| Bourjaily, Vance Contents Note: The Man Who Knew Kennedy. N.Y. The Dial Press. |
1967 |
| Bradlee, Benjamin Contents Note: That Special Grace. Philadelphia & New York, J.B.Lippincott Co. |
1964 |
| Bradlee, Benjamin Contents Note: The Brief. Volume XXXVI. Wallingford, Conn., THe Choate School. |
1935 |
| Burns, James MacGregor Contents Note: John Kennedy. A Political profile by... New York, Harcourt, Brace & Co., |
1960 |
| Connelly, Marc Contents Note: The Green Pastures. New York, Farrar & Rinehart. |
1929 |
| Cutler, John Henry Contents Note: "Honey Fitz" Three Steps to the White House. The Life and the Times John F. ( Honey Fitz) Fitzgerald. Indianapolis & New York, Bobbs- Merrill |
1962 |
| Dinneen, Joseph F. Contents Note: The Kennedy Family. Boston & Toronto, Little Brown & Co. |
1959 |
| Epstein, Edward Jay Contents Note: Irquest. The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truth. New York, Viking Press. |
1966 |
| Frost, Robert Contents Note: Dedication. The Gift Outright. - Kennedy, John F. |
| Frost, Robert Contents Note: The Inaugural Address. New York, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc. |
1961 |
| Kennedy, John F. Contents Note: The Inaugural Address. New York, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc, |
1961 |
| Hoopes, Roy Contents Note: A Memorial Edition of What the President Does All Day. NY Dell Publ.Co. |
1964 |
| Joesten, Joachim Contents Note: The Dark Side of Lyndon Haines Johnson. London, Peter Dawnay Ltd.. |
1968 |
| Kennedy, John F., Editor Contents Note: As We Remember Joe. Cambridge, Mass., University Press. |
1945 |
| Kennedy, John F. Contents Note: Profile in Courage. New York, Harper & Bros. |
1956 |
| Kennedy, John F. Contents Note: Cambridge, Mass., University Press. |
1956 |
| Kennedy, John F. Contents Note: The Strategy of Peace- Edited by Allan Nevins. New York, Harper & Bros. |
1960 |
| Kennedy, John F. Contents Note: Why England Slept. New York, Wilfred Funk Inc. |
1940 |
| Lane, Mark Contents Note: Rush to Judgement. A Critique fo the Warren Commission's... Lee Harvey Oswald. New York, Chicago & San Francisco, Holt, Rinehart & Winston. |
1966 |
| Laski, Harold J. Contents Note: The American Presidency, An Interpretation. New York & London, Harper Row. |
1940 |
| Lasky, Victor Contents Note: J.F.K. The Man and the Myth.. New York, Macmillan Co. |
1963 |
| Lee, Bruce Contents Note: J.F.K: Boyhood to White House. Greenwich, Conn., Fawcett Publications. |
1964 |
| Lieberson, Goddard, Editor & Producer. Contents Note: John Fitzgerald Kennedy... As We Remember Him. New York, Atheneum Press |
1965 |
| Lincoln, Everlyn Contents Note: My Twelve Years With John F. Kennedy. New York, David McKay Co. New York, David McKay Co. |
| Lisagor, Peter and Higgins, Marguerite Contents Note: Overtime in Heaven: Adventures in the Foreign Service. Garden City, NY., Doubleday & Co. |
1964 |
| Lowe, Jacques Contents Note: The Emergence of Johnn F. Kennedy Portrait. New York, Bramhall House. |
1961 |
| Manchester, William Contents Note: The Death of A President. New York, Evanston & London, Harper & Row. |
1963 Nov 20 -1963 Nov 25 |
| O'Donnell, Kenneth P. and Powers, David F. with Joe McCarthy. Contents Note: "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye." Memories of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Boston and Toronto, Little, Brown & Co. |
| Salinger, Pierre Contents Note: With Kennedy. New York, Doubleday & Co. |
1966 |
| Sauvage, Leo Contents Note: The Oswald Affair. An Examination of the Contradictions and Omissions of the Warren Report. Cleveland & New York, World Publ. Co. |
1966 |
| Setley, Ruth Ericsen Contents Note: New York, Countrywide Publications. |
1974 |
| Shaw, Mark Contents Note: The John F. Kennedys. Toronto, Ambassador Books Ltd: New York, Sanders Printing Corp. |
1964 |
| Shaw Mark Contents Note: The John F. Kennedys. Toronto Ambassador Books Ltd; New York, Sanders Printing Corp. |
1964 |
| Sidey, Hugh Contents Note: John F. Kennedy, President |
1964 |
| Sorensen, Theodore C. Contents Note: Kennedy. New York, Harper & Row |
1965 |
| Strouse, Flora Contents Note: John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Man of Courage. New York, Signet Key Books. |
1965 |
| Tregaskis, Richard Contents Note: John F. Kennedy and PT-109. New York, Random House. |
1962 |
| White, Theodore H. Contents Note: The Making of the President. New York, Atheneum Publ. 1961 |
1960 |
| Periodicals and Newspapers relating to John F. Kennedy 5 Contents Note: Broadsides |
| Periodicals and Newspapers relating to John F. Kennedy 63 Contents Note: Periodicals, Magazines and Excerpts from Magazines. |
| Periodicals and Newspapers relating to John F. Kennedy 35 Contents Note: Miscellaneous Newspaper Clippings and Letters; Periodicals from Choate School |
| Periodicals and Newspapers relating to John F. Kennedy 19 Contents Note: Complete Newspapers |