Biography: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

After the Presidency

Soon after President Kennedy’s death, Jackie began the work of creating the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum as a memorial to her husband. Normally, a Presidential library was funded by the government but as her husband was dead: the planning, the fundraising, the design, etc; all these rested on Jackie's shoulders. She chose the architect I.M. Pei to design the building, which now stands as a landmark overlooking Boston Harbour. 

A year after the President was shot, Jackie moved to New York with her children, Caroline aged 7 and John aged 4. Jackie loved New York City. She had always dreamed of bringing her children up there. From 1964 to 1994, she lived on the 15th floor of 1040 Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The building is located on the north-east corner of Fifth Avenue and 85th Street, across the road from Central Park and a block up from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

She moved to 1040 because it was close to her sister Lee Radziwill and because she wanted Caroline to go to school at the Convent of Sacred Heart on 91st Street, one of the best girls' schools  in the city. She also knew the Upper East Side would pretty much let her be. She went to mass at St Thomas More on 89th Street.

She bought the entire 15th floor for $250,000. She filled her apartment with her books, paintings and art objects. She had a piano she could not play and a telescope which she used. The place was friendly, rather than grand. She wanted a private place for her family and friends to enjoy and feel at home in.

The apartment was also complete with an amazing view of Central Park and what is now the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. She could also see the 3,400 year old Temple of Dendur, which she had helped to bring to the Metropolitan Museum from Egypt. The apartment also had a terrace which she liked to stand out on and take in the view.