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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-AUG-01
In this interview Heckscher discusses John F. Kennedy [JFK] and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis as an “inspiration to cultural life”; Heckscher’s involvement in government affairs prior to becoming a Special Consultant to the President; the invitation of 168 artists to JFK’s 1961 inauguration and its impact; how Heckscher came to work for the White House; discussing Heckscher’s position with Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.; the reasoning behind the creation of the new position of Special Consultant on the Arts and the favorable public reaction to it; enlarging the definition of “The Arts,” especially regarding architecture; Arthur Goldberg; the establishment of the Freedom Medal; creating the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts through executive order; personal impressions of JFK; setting up Heckscher’s office and staff; how Heckscher was meant to advise JFK and what his position entailed; the Cultural Center [Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]; conversations with JFK; Mrs. Kennedy’s expansive work for the arts; the arts as part of national policy; working with other White House staff members and other Departments; designing special postage stamps; what the President’s role in the arts should be; and the Fine Arts Commission, among other issues.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7579-O
Funeral services for Eleanor Roosevelt in the rose garden on the Roosevelt estate in Hyde Park, New York. Those pictured include: President John F. Kennedy; First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy; Laura Franklin “Polly” Delano; Representative James Roosevelt (California); Gladys Irene Roosevelt; Elliott Roosevelt; Patricia Peabody Roosevelt; John Aspinwall Roosevelt; Anna Roosevelt Halsted; James A. Halsted; Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr.; Suzanne Perrin Roosevelt; former president, Harry S. Truman; former president, General Dwight D. Eisenhower; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Earl Warren; Nina Warren; Supreme Court Justice, Arthur Goldberg; Dorothy Goldberg; Assistant Secretary of Labor for Labor Standards, Esther Peterson; Margaret Truman Daniel; Special Assistant to President Kennedy, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.; Marian Cannon Schlesinger; Washington Correspondent for the Guy Gannett Publishing Company of Maine, May Craig.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7579-M
Funeral services for Eleanor Roosevelt in the rose garden on the Roosevelt estate in Hyde Park, New York. Those pictured include: President John F. Kennedy; First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy; Laura Franklin “Polly” Delano; Representative James Roosevelt (California); Gladys Irene Roosevelt; Elliott Roosevelt; Patricia Peabody Roosevelt; John Aspinwall Roosevelt; Anna Roosevelt Halsted; James A. Halsted; Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr.; former president, Harry S. Truman; former president, General Dwight D. Eisenhower; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Earl Warren; Nina Warren; Supreme Court Justice, Arthur Goldberg; Dorothy Goldberg; Margaret Truman Daniel; Special Assistant to President Kennedy, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.; Washington Correspondent for the Guy Gannett Publishing Company of Maine, May Craig.