4 minute read
The Final Resting Place of President John F. Kennedy: The Untold Story of a Lost Memorial
The Final Resting Place of President John F. Kennedy: The Untold Story of a Lost Memorial
When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, a final resting place was chosen at Arlington National Cemetery.
What is unknown is that in addition to the iconic eternal flame, another memorial piece was planned as part of the grave. It was based on a concept by the French designer Jean Schlumberger and a recent discovery brought to light its previously untold story.
“The memorial wreath project further emphasizes the close relationship of Mrs. Mellon and Mrs. Kennedy,” said Elinor Crane of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, who worked on the research. “The care, time and devotion spent to memorialize a moment in time for the fallen President.”
A long-neglected detail of the ceremonial burial of President Kennedy is that before leaving the grave, the Honor Guard that carried the coffin, representing all branches of the U.S. military, removed their caps as a mark of respect.
Those caps were maintained on the grave until April, 1967 after the reinternment and consecration of the eternal flame gravesite designed by John Carl Warnecke and Associates, with final adjustments made by Rachel “Bunny” Lambert Mellon with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s approval.
Nevertheless, the symbolic significance of the caps was not forgotten. Over the ensuing years, a concept was privately developed to represent them in a memorial wreath at the gravesite. Designed by Jean Schlumberger and commissioned by Mrs. Kennedy, this memorial wreath, over eight feet in diameter, incorporated the hats of the Honor Guard. It was then secretly created by the sculptor and goldsmith Louis Féron at his studio in New Hampshire before being cast at the Modern Art Foundry in New York in April and May, 1969.
Overseen by Mrs. Mellon and temporarily installed in the early 1970s on a replica of the President’s grave at the Mellon estate in Upperville, the wreath then disappeared. Over the last several years, an exhaustive search by researchers at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation failed to trace its whereabouts.
However, earlier this year, a letter discovered in the Féron archives at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston offered a clue. Dated April 4, 1977, the letter directed that the wreath be shipped to the yet to be constructed John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
The wreath has now been located, still packed in its original shipping crates, in the offsite collections of the Kennedy Library filed under the sculptor’s name, ‘Feron.’
ABOUT THE OAK SPRING GARDEN FOUNDATION
The Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Upperville is at the estate of Rachel “Bunny”’ Lambert Mellon that includes the former Mellon home, an exquisite garden and large part of the former Mellon estate, including an exceptional library focused on the history of plant science, plant exploration, and the development of gardens and landscape design. The mission of OSGF is to perpetuate and share the gifts of “Bunny” Lambert Mellon, to serve the public interest with a primary focus on inspiring and facilitating scholarship and public dialogue on the history and future of plants, including the culture of gardens and landscapes and the importance of plants for human well-being.
