(JUDAICA) John F Kennedy Address as congressman to the Bosto

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(JUDAICA.) John F. Kennedy. Address as congressman to the Boston chapter of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. 10, [1] carbon copy pages, 10 1/2 x 8 inches, with pencil caption on first page in unknown hand, stapled in upper left corner; minimal wear. Boston, 30 April 1950

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Kennedy delivered this address as a 32-year-old second-term United States Representative during a visit back to his home district. At the 45th annual meeting of Boston's chapter of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, he praised their mission to aid in the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of Jewish war refugees: "During the past year, over seventeen thousand immigrants who have arrived in the United States are receiving HIAS service. It has made them welcome to this country. It has helped them get established and started in their new life. . . . It is certainly in keeping with the American tradition that we should absorb displaced persons. We have in this country a vigorous and dynamic society because we have utilized and amalgamated numerous cultures and numerous skills." He credits the work of Jewish refugee scientists including Albert Einstein with helping to win the late war. In closing he describes the status of displaced person legislation working its way through Congress. The final leaf is a short summary "to be utilized--if possible," presumably in a press release. The next day's Boston Globe reported on the speech, quoting Kennedy with a line from this summary: "It is safe to assume that before the summer of 1951, displaced person camps will be closed." Provenance: originally from the collection of Kennedy's longtime aide David F. Powers.