John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Unveils -Access to a Legacy- Digital Archives
Media Alert · Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Washington, DC

WHAT:  Washington, DC…The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library will unveil its Access to a Legacy Digital Archive Initiative.

WHEN:  Thursday, January 13, 2011
9:30 a.m. - Continental breakfast
10:00 a.m. - Remarks

WHO:  Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation President Caroline Kennedy
John F. Kennedy Library and Museum Director Thomas J. Putnam

WHERE:  Archivist’s Reception Room (Room 105), National Archives Building,
700 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC
Note: The media should use the 700 Pennsylvania Ave entrance

To help mark the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and Caroline Kennedy, President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, will unveil the nation’s largest online digitized presidential archive, providing unprecedented global access to the most important papers, records, photographs and recordings of President John F. Kennedy’s thousand days in office.

Special document display – President Kennedy’s first Executive Order

East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives Building, January 11-31
On January 21, 1961, President Kennedy signed the first Executive order of his presidency, increasing surplus food allotments for the poor across the United States. The order called on the Secretary of Agriculture to increase, not just the amount, but the variety of food going to poor families.

Background on the Digital Archive

The Digital Archive is an on-line archive of high interest materials from President John F. Kennedy’s official and personal records. It will be available to teachers, students, scholars, authors and the general public through any internet connection at www.jfklibrary.org. For the first time, these original, official records will be accessible without traveling to the Kennedy Library in Boston. In addition, the digitization process has preserved these records by storing them on state of the art media, overcoming the deterioration of 1960s era paper, film, recordings and the like. The Digital Archive includes over 200,000 pages, 300 reels of audio tape containing over 1,245 individual recordings of telephone conversations, speeches and meetings, 300 museum artifacts, 72 reels of moving images and 1,500 photos that have been digitized, described and loaded electronically.

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For Press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.

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