This
exhibit showcases more than 70 dolls and puppets from 30 countries
given to Caroline Kennedy between 1961 and 1963. Foreign dignitaries
and first ladies, including Italy's Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani,
the Ivory Coast's President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, India’s
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Monaco's Princess Grace, and the
wife of France's President Charles de Gaulle presented dolls as
state gifts.
Born
in 1957, Caroline Kennedy was a three-year-old when her father
took the oath of office as President of the United States on January
20, 1961. (Her brother, John, was two months old at the time.)
She attended kindergarten at the White House in classes organized
by her mother, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Some of the most recognizable
images of the Kennedy White House include photographs of the Kennedy
children in the Oval Office and with their parents.
The
centerpiece of the exhibit was the playhouse presented to Caroline
Kennedy by Jacqueline de Gaulle, wife of French President Charles
de Gaulle. The five-foot tall playhouse is white with red roof
and shutters and has "Caroline" inscribed by the front
door. Caroline Kennedy’s children also played in the playhouse
when they were youngsters.
The
collection also includes dolls and puppets from Uruguay, Guatemala,
Colombia, Austria, Holland, Wales, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia,
Poland, Germany, Japan, Thailand, Pakistan, Jordan, Korea, Canada,
Greece, and Puerto Rico. A Kachina doll from the National Congress
of American Indians that was presented to President Kennedy is
also in the exhibit.
