John F Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum

John F Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum review

A looming concrete-and-glass monolith designed by IM Pei (completed in 1979), this shrine to the life and work of the 35th US president overlooks the outer harbour from the top of the Columbia Point peninsula. On the ground floor, the stunning 115ft-tall atrium commands panoramic views of the sea and the city. Downstairs, the museum contains an extensive display of memorabilia, as well as a series of temporary shows. Presented as a series of multimedia retro room sets and visitor-friendly displays, the permanent exhibition comprises a timeline of Kennedy's rise to power (including excerpts from his famous televised campaign debate with Nixon, and documentary footage on the Cuban Missile Crisis), achievements (promoting the space race), his family life and reproductions of the Oval Office and the office of JFK's brother, Attorney General Robert F Kennedy. The historical archives, which can only be viewed by appointment, include an extensive collection of Ernest Hemingway's letters and papers, donated by his wife Mary - Kennedy allowed her to re-enter Fidel Castro's Cuba in order to remove the writer's effects from their abandoned home in Havana. In spring 2007, Hemingway's correspondence with Marlene Dietrich, donated by the actress's daughter in 2003 on the proviso it remained closed for four years, was made public.