In afternoon, i am tom putnam director of the library and museum, on behalf of heather, ceo of the Kennedy Library foundation and all of my library and Library Foundation collects, i think you for coming. Welcome those watching on cspan and acknowledge the generous underwriters of the Kennedy Library the lead sponsor bank of america, the vole institute, the Boston Foundation and art media sponsors, the boston globe, infinity and w dr. In reading the new book, rosemary, the hidden kennedy daughter. I was struck by an observation from sr. Margaret and, one of ann, one of the caregivers in the later years in wisconsin, that rosemary had a magnetic personality. As others before us we too are drawn to the story, perhaps like greeks attending a theatrical tragedy, tragedy, we know in advance the tragic ending to come and we watch the actions of two protagonists. First, roads kennedy and her retailers effort to protect her eldest daughter and later joe, the patriarch, in his unending search for a cure that would not come. Then, for that placement where his beloved rosemary could grow and feel productive. She was born born in an age when intellectually challenged and learning disabled children have few options. Bleak, Educational Opportunities and limited prospects to lead independent lives. Just kennedy was protective of his children. So fearful fearful that one of his sons might die should the u. S. Go to war in europe, he did everything in his power, including disobeying the very president who once pointed him ambassador to prevent the epic of world war ii. His greatest fears would come true of course, losing his firstborn son joe junior, and a few months later, his poor widow daughter, kathleen. Rosemary might also be considered a victim of that war, in the one setting where she most flourished was under the care of mother isabel of the assumption care of mother isabel of the assumption sisters of the belmont house, outside of london, which joe described in the letter to his wife as providing quote, the ideal life for rosemary. The school use the montessori method and since rosemary was older than the other student shes served as mother isabels assistant. About this time, kay larson notes, rosemarys favorite story to read two younger story was winnie the pooh. One of the few books she could read with confidence. As a storm clouds of world war grew, rosemary pleaded with her father not to move her from the belmont house, yet thinking he was protecting her safety, he chose to send her back to rejoin the rest of the family in the United States. Much in a few years he would make a similarly fatal medical decision. If we know the contours of the saga, kate larsen unveils them to us in a refreshing manner, trained as a historian and the author of her three books, including a biography of harriet timing, she is the first biographer to have access to many of rosemarys letters as well as newly released family material here at the Kennedy Library. The New York Times described as quote a valuable account of a Mental Health tragedy and an influential family related effort to make amends. The book is on sale at our bookstore and there will be a book signing fining the form. Our moderator this afternoon, Eileen Mcnamara is a professor of journalism, a former boston globe column issue in the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. She became a columnist after more than 20 years as a reporter covering everything from the police beat to the United States congress. The sign of the times in which she lives, and the challenges she overcame, it should be noted that she began her career at the globe as a newsroom secretary. She is currently working on a biography of Eunice Kennedy shriver. Speaking of mrs. Schreiber, the last time she spoke here rosemary was very much on her mind. I thought it might be appropriate to share a brief excerpt of her remark as part of this introduction. You not be surprised to know that i believe those same qualities were also the experience that shaped president kennedy. Truthfully i believe rosemary rejection had far more to go with the brilliance of the presidency than anyone can understand. Yes, he was our crest on tran countries champion on what we all call mental retardation. To this day, his legacy of innovation and creating university affiliated centers, the council remains today one of the great histories of our country. Beyond the work he did for people with intellectual disability, i believe it was rosemary, influence that centralized him and all of us to take care of vulnerable and weak people. I think i can say that not one among 1000 who have written about him has understood what it was really like to be a brother of a person with mental retardation. Tonight i want to say, that i have never said before, more than any single individual, rosemary had the greatest influence. [applause]. The new book concludes by discovering the work of various members of the shriver family to whom she passed her chart. The ceo Special Olympics echoes his mothers concern because her siblings were touched by witnessing resumes early early struggles in the tragic turn in her life trajectory. One can still picture rosemary in those years in england, when the world was most kind to her, reading Christopher Robbins words to her friend pooh, quote quote promise me you always remember, your braided then you believe, stronger than he seemed, and smarter than you think. Due to circumstances be on her control, Rosemary Kennedy lived a diminished life. Yet we live in an age that is more fully sensitized to the bravery and strength of the vulnerable among us, and for that may Rosemary Kennedy always be remembered. Please join me now and welcome me kate tour stage. [applause]. Thank you all. So kate, could you have picked a more challenging topic . You have a woman who disappeared from public view in 1941 when she was only 23 years old. Where does a biographer even begin . More portly, why . Those are two great questions. Why is easier to answer, back in 2005 i saw rosemarys obituary in the newspaper and it was like a three paragraph obituary in the boston globe. For some reason, it just hit me. I have been vaguely aware of rosemary and of course i was very aware of the Kennedy Family having grown up in new england. I just thought oh, this life, what happened to her . As a womans historian, my antenna went up right away like, why dont we know more about her. So i checked it in the back of my mind and i was working on another book project. I just had the sense that i should investigate her life and that might be my next project. So when i did start researching her life, it may have been so in a bit of naivety on my part thinking i would be able to unearth all of this information and it would not be any problem, i could write this most beautiful young woman and about what happened to her. The process took longer than i thought because the record was a little spotty, over the years more and more papers became available so it made it easier. It is is a challenge to write about someone who disappears and who leaves few papers behind. But it is possible. Tell us what you think about rosemarys life before the lobotomy, wish you a happy child . Was she integrated into the life of the family . Rosemary was an adorable child, happy, but also she struggled and suffered in trying to compete with her much more capable siblings. She was integrated into the family when she was home and her family did a great job to accommodate her disability. They would play sports with her, they would go sailing with her, they would take the helm but help her be part of that sailing. Tennis, all of the sports that they are all capable of doing themselves, she needed help, but they accommodated her. That of course influence eunice as an adult to start the Special Olympics. She knew that sports was an important aspect for every human being, but also for people with disabilities. So she was happy on the one hand, on the other hand she was very unhappy because of the struggle she faced and her parents also center off to many different schools over a period of ten years. That was very hard on a young child, a teenager, young, young adult woman who is constantly separated from her family who she loved very much and wanted to be with. So her life had Bright Moments but also a lot of struggle. Was she was only 11 right i think when she went to the first boarding school that they sent her to pennsylvania. So she never did adjust very well when she had these big transitions in her life. She she never stayed at the schools very long, it seemed. Did it not occur to her parents at some point that maybe this approach was not working for her . It is not clear whether they understood that bouncing her from one school to the next was actually harming her. I think they tried really hard to find a place where she could learn and be safe and achieve things that they expected her to achieve. When those schools did not seem to perform for them they did not wait, they just put her in another school. That is unfortunate. She suffered tremendously from the transition of school to school. In some ways to me they treated her a lot like they treated the other children. All the children moved, when rosewood moved down to florida for the winter, the kids would go to school down there. It must have been standard operating procedure. It was partly standard operating procedure, but also with rosemary she needed more time to make adjustments and that was very unfair to her. That was clear after the first transition to a few different schools. So it is unfortunate that rose and choate did not take a step back and say, maybe we should pause here before we center to a different school. They school. They also had Unrealistic Expectations of her and they expected that you perform better in the schools, she just couldnt. She was not capable. At the time, most schools cannot provide appropriate Educational Programming for people with educational difficulties like rosemary have. So they were determined they would cure her of her disabilities when you know in fact, that is is not possible. In fact, maybe that illusion and that approach explains the approach, she was was fairly high functioning young woman, was that she . She was presented to the king and queen of england as a debutante. She achieved about a fourthgrade education level. Her maturity level was probably about the same, it is hard to say because i never met her in person, but given what she writes in the letters that are here at the Kennedy Library you can see that her emotional level is quite immature. But she could function, today she would certainly be mainstreamed in classrooms and as an adult, perhaps even live independently with resources and a support system. In those days, none of that was available. Available. Ms stigma, does that stigma explain some of the complicity of what you describe in the book where rose and joe did not exactly reveal everything about rosemarys abilities when they put her in one school or another school. They sort of suggested she was higher functioning that when she was. The first school they sent her away to when she was 11 years old was the Devereaux School and pennsylvania. That was a school created for children with intellectual disabilities. The woman who ran the school was very successful with other students. Because the kennedys believe rosemary could be cured, they really were not able to accept that label that she had disabilities. They were not pleased with her progress there so they moved her to other schools, traditional schools. She cannot keep up with classmates even though she may be put in a class room with other eighthgraders, she could could still only perform at a fourth grade level. The kennedys, joe joe and rose did not inform most of the teachers that this was actually what was going on with rosemary. They had expectations, the teachers had expectations of rosemary, her parents did, and parents did, and rosemary cannot meet those expectations. So, i dont know how they thought these teachers were going to perform some miracle on rosemary particularly after they go through the two, three or more schools and things are not changing. It seemed like they just wanted rosemary sent away somewhere rather than really trying to find an appropriate educational setting. Was the progress, located two by the family, they are theyre not recognizing her not wanting to acknowledge that this is not simply a case of intellectual disability. You make wonderful use of the primary source here at the library, we quote teachers who talk about her belligerence, her acting out, it seems like there was Mental Illness combined with intellectual disabilities. As rosemary aged into her teen years and young adulthood, it became apparent that there is more going on than just simply a young person frustrations of having expectations they cannot meet. Many people have asked difficulties do lash out, but things going on with rosemary indicate that perhaps there is some Mental Health issues emerging when she was in her teen years. Certainly as a young adult woman, Mental Illness began to appear in rosemary and her parents clearly were not sure what they should do about that, other than quiet her. She never really receive Mental Health treatment. All of these efforts were designed to improve her academic performance, it doesnt sound like there was much of an effort made to deal with her emotional problems. Know, of course he brought up the issue of stigma. First of all there was a stigma attached to having a child with intellectual disabilities. There were horrific phrases that they used in the time. Like, more on an imbecile, and rose and joe, here they have a beautiful daughter and they certainly dont want those labels placed on their daughter. So, they thought they could ship her away and hide those disabilities. When it came to Mental Illness, they were not equipped to deal with it, and frankly neither was the medical establishment as well. People were warehoused in horrific institutions, people who had Mental Illness. For rosemary, there were not medications except maybe a barbiturate that would have put her to sleep or conjured down. So, there are very few resources rose and joe were smart enough to know that there might be Mental Health issues going on with rosemary because they did investigate placing her in a psychiatric institution, and the fall 1941. Those one. Those records are here in the library. They ended up not doing that, i am not clear why but they were aware that she had some Mental Health issues. It is interesting because they say the options were not many of the 40s. It was not until the late 50s when we start getting psychotropic drugs that can help people. So lobotomys perhaps in like a logical choice . Although it may sound horrific to us today. It is horrific. I feel pretty strongly that it did not necessarily look like the best option. At the time joe kennedy started investigated lobotomy they are being done by a pair of doctors in washington dc, Walter Freeman and james watt. Theyre basically experimenting. It was very. It was a very rarely done across the world. They had operated on fewer than 100 patients by the time they performed a lobotomy on rosemary. The American Medical Association was clear, that spring and summer they reported they felt it was too experimental, the side effects were too dramatic, and that lobotomies needed to be research more before they continued performing them on my patients. Joe was a really smart man. He would have known that. He would have had that resource. He wouldve known that the medical association was not recommending it. But he went ahead and had her lobotomized anyway. Why . I think he felt he needed to silence her in a way. To make her more as the doctors would have told him, more compliant, more pliable, less emotional. What were the consequences of that lobotomy for rosemary . So the best Case Scenario wouldve been that she wouldve been devoid of compliance. For rosemary she she began completely disabled, physically and intellectually disabled. She left that operation not being able to walk or talk. She had a permanent physical disability as a result of the lobotomy. She regained the ability to speak a few words, a few phrases, and she could never take care of herself again for the rest of her life. This leads to the question that has bothered everybody who has heard the story since they read a book in 1988, when rose told her that she did not see her daughter for 20 years. After this lobotomy. How could that be . And why . I wish i had an answer. As a mother i i cannot imagine not seeing my child for 20 years. I think perhaps rose always looked forward, her whole life she had many disappointments but she was committed to looking forward and she looked to her faith to guide her move forward. I think she did with this instance as well, rosemary was going to be institutionalized and so she did not need to see her daughter anymore and she will concentrate on concentrate on the rest of her children. However, it is all well and good to say but really how do you not see your child for 20 years . I cant get my head around that, i really cant. Joe of course, maybe saw her for a few years and then stopped visiting her as well. That is remarkable to me, because rosemary was still cognizant. She knew her family, she knew her family, she knew her parents, but she did not see them. She comes back into their lives in the early 70s. You start seeing people visiting her and bring her back. Joe was dead by then. So is the death of the ambassador a precipitating act that brought her back into the family question. I think that was part of it. I think eunice did a tremendous amount of work bringing out the story of rosemary who had intellectual disabilities after the president had been elec