ALS signed twice as “Jackie,” five pages, 5.25 x 7.5, personal 1040 Fifth Avenue letterhead, no date (November 1974). Handwritten letter to artist and needlepoint designer Leslie Tillett, in full: “As I am leaving today for Thanksgiving weekend, & may not be able to get you on the phone tomorrow. This is the problem, I would like Ethel Kennedy to arrive at the museum before we do. Nov. 29 with Tom Johnston, we are trying to work out the most spectacular way she can arrive there, maybe with Teddy, maybe Mayor [John] Lindsay, Frank Thomas. Anyway, it must be her day, & not yours & mine. I have discussed this with Tom Johnston—office—PL7-0500, home 737-0709. He will try to arrange a grand entry for Ethel. We decided that it was best if you would be at the museum at the beginning at the festivities. Once Ethel, (because after all, Bedford Stuyvesant was Bobby’s idea)—has had her fare, then you can dash over to my house, one black away, & bring me. Please keep very close to Tom that evening for signals because if Ethel & whomever she is coming with are late, then you must come & get me, & it is just one block & I will be ready. I want it to be her evening, not mine. So we must adapt our actions to that. If you & Tom stay in touch—(he is trying to arrange her arrival)—then it will all work out well, & I will be waiting in a running coach to get the word to fly over to museum, hopefully escorted by you & DD. Please call Nancy Tuckerman about lists, if you need more people. 956-8473—she works at Olympic. I know it will turn out as we hope, but there are nuances, & I think it so important they work out well too—thanks.” Jackie signs for a second time following a postscript on the last page: “Please call me if you have any problems, today, or Monday—628-2226. All thanks, Jackie." In fine condition, with some trivial light stains. Accompanied by the original envelope hand-addressed by Jackie, who writes in the lower left, “By Hand.”
Although undated, this letter, given its subject matter, likely dates to late November 1974, when Jackie was finalizing plans for an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, a community development corporation founded by her late brother-in-law, Robert F. Kennedy, in April 1967. Following the death of her husband, Ethel Kennedy focused much of her time and energy on various social causes, most notably as a board member for the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Project, which carried on her husband’s aim of providing improved housing, education, welfare reform, health, and economic development for the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn. Wanting in no way to overshadow the efforts of her sister-in-law, Jackie, as this letter illustrates, was determined to center the spotlight on Ethel, imploring to Tillett that “it must be her day, & not yours & mine.”
Jackie’s role with the exhibition was in the art department, where she was particularly interested in the Design Works, which produced handmade textiles and brought together local artists from the Bed-Stuy community. She used the materials in her living rooms at 1040 and invited House Beautiful to photograph them in November 1971 for the article ‘Art Power at Work-The Fabrics of Bedford-Stuyvesant.’ That her friend Leslie Tillet was involved is not surprising; he designed the array of tablecloths that were used at the 1986 wedding reception of Caroline Kennedy. The mention of Thomas Johnston is also noteworthy, as he served as the executive assistant to Senator Robert F. Kennedy between 1966 and 1968, and was Kennedy's official representative for the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation.
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