Kennedy John



John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy Wedding Guest List







36pp typed wedding guest list entitled "John F. Kennedy - Wedding List" at top, possibly edited by mother-of-the-groom Rose Kennedy (1890-1995). Cream watermarked paper typed in blue ink and annotated in pencil and pen. The list is coded in shorthand, a series of check marks, squiggly lines, and a's, presumably an abbreviation for "accepted." The same editor has corrected occasional spelling and typographical errors, filled in names, and updated guest status, i.e. "has remarried" or is "deceased." Stapled in the upper left corner, and with a few wrinkles. In remarkable condition considering this was a working document!







The Kennedy wedding guest list included some of the wealthiest, well-connected, and influential people of the day. Guests ranged from former U.S. Presidents, politicians, and diplomats, European aristocrats, Hollywood celebrities, media moguls, clergymen, businessmen, former classmates, school masters, and Navy buddies, and relatives from the Fitzgerald, Kennedy, Schriber, Skakel, Bouvier, and Auchincloss clans.







Some of the more famous guests include, in alphabetical order:




-John J. Astor, 1st Baron of Hever, an Olympic tennis champion




-Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, the first female member elected to British Parliament




-Irving Berlin, composer




-Marion Davies and her husband Horace G. Brown, Jr., Hollywood actors




-Igor Cassini, gossip columnist




-Pamela Harriman Churchill, Winston Churchill's ex-daughter-in-law




-Associate Justice of the Supreme Court William O. Douglas




-Bernard F. Gimbel, president of Gimbels Department Store




-Millicent Veronica Hearst, widow of William Randolph Hearst




-Herbert C. Hoover, former U.S. President




-J. Edgar Hoover, longtime FBI Director




-Adlai E. Stevenson, former Democratic presidential contender




-Ed Sullivan, television host




-Harry S. Truman, former U.S. President




-Alfred G. Vanderbilt II, racehorse breeder




-Walter Winchell, gossip columnist







Invitations were forwarded as far afield as England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Bermuda, and Canada, with the majority being sent to New York City, Long Island, Boston, Hyannisport, Providence, and Washington, D.C. With an average of 13 guests per page (almost always including a spouse), the approximate total guest list reflected here is about 936. This, combined with the guest list's terse last entry: "He [JFK] also invited all the Senators and Congressmen."







John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy were married at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Newport, Rhode Island on September 12, 1953. The morning wedding mass was officiated by Archbishop Richard Cushing, a family friend, and was preceded by a special papal blessing. Over 800 guests attended the Kennedy wedding church service in the Gothic Revival style church on Spring Street. Outside, crowds formed to congratulate the couple.







Over 1200 guests were welcomed to the reception which followed at Hammersmith Farm, the bride's family's 300-acre beachfront estate. Mother Janet Lee Bouvier Auchincloss (1907-1989) and stepfather Hugh D. Auchincloss (1897-1976) feted the newlyweds on the grounds of their 28-room Cape Cod style shingle style house. Guests enjoyed an alfresco luncheon, 4-tier wedding cake (ordered by father of the groom Joseph P. Kennedy), orchestral music conducted by bandleader Meyer Davis, and dancing.







Other notes, lists, and correspondence related to the Kennedy wedding can be viewed in the digital collection of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum:







https://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JPKPP-026-004.aspx







The Kennedy's wedding invitation, along with an oversized black and white wedding photo, comes from the same source and will be offered as a separate lot in this sale.







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