Eunice Kennedy Shriver | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Shriver in 1982 | |
| Born | Eunice Mary Kennedy (1921-07-10)July 10, 1921 Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | August 11, 2009(2009-08-11) (aged 88) Hyannis, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Burial place | St. Francis Xavier Parish Cemetery, Centerville |
| Education | Stanford University (BS) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | Kennedy family (by birth) Shriver family (by marriage) |
| Website | eunicekennedyshriver |
| Signature | |
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Eunice Mary Kennedy ShriverDSG (néeKennedy, July 10, 1921 – August 11, 2009) was an American philanthropist.[1] Shriver was a member of theKennedy family by birth, and a member of theShriver family through her marriage toSargent Shriver, who was theUnited States Ambassador to France and the finalDemocratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in1972. She was a sister of U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, U.S. SenatorsRobert F. Kennedy andEdward Kennedy, and U.S. Ambassador to IrelandJean Kennedy Smith.
Shriver was the founder of theSpecial Olympics, a sports organization for persons with intellectual disabilities. For her efforts on behalf of disabled people, she was awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom in 1984.
Eunice Mary Kennedy was born inBrookline, Massachusetts, on July 10, 1921.[2] She was the fifth of nine children ofJoseph P. Kennedy Sr., andRose Fitzgerald.[3] Her siblings included U.S. President and SenatorJohn F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. SenatorRobert F. Kennedy, U.S. SenatorEdward Kennedy, and U.S. Ambassador to IrelandJean Kennedy Smith.[4]
Eunice was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart School inNoroton, Connecticut, andManhattanville College. She studied atStanford University where she competed on the swimming and track and field teams.[5] After graduating from Stanford in 1943 with aBachelor of Science degree insociology,[6] she moved toWashington, D.C. and worked for the Special War Problems Division of theU.S. State Department. Kennedy eventually moved to theU.S. Justice Department as executive secretary for a project dealing withjuvenile delinquency. During her time in Washington, she shared a townhouse inGeorgetown with her brother John, then a U.S. Congressman.[7] Kennedy served as asocial worker at theFederal Industrial Institution for Women for one year before moving toChicago in 1951 to work with the House of the Good Shepherdwomen's shelter and Chicago Juvenile Court.[2]
Shriver became executive vice president of theJoseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation in 1957.[2] She shifted the organization's focus from Catholic charities to research on the causes ofintellectual disabilities, and humane ways to treat them.[6] This interest eventually culminated in, among other things, the Special Olympics movement.[8]
A long-time advocate for children's health and disability issues, Shriver championed the creation of the President's Panel on Mental Retardation in 1961. The panel was significant in the movement from institutionalization tocommunity integration in the U.S. and throughout the world.[9] Shriver was a key founder of theNational Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a part of theNational Institutes of Health in 1962.[10]
In 1962, Shriver founded Camp Shriver, asummer day camp for children and adults with intellectual disabilities at her Maryland farm to explore their capabilities in a variety of sports and physical activities.[11] From that camp came the concept ofSpecial Olympics.[12] Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968.[13] That year, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation helped to plan and fund the First International Special Olympics Summer Games, held in Chicago'sSoldier Field where 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 26 states and Canada competed.[11] In her speech at the opening ceremony, Shriver said, "The Chicago Special Olympics prove a very fundamental fact, the fact that exceptional children — mentally disabled children — can be exceptional athletes, the fact that through sports they can realize their potential for growth." Special Olympics Inc. was established as a nonprofit charity in 1968; since that time, nearly three million athletes have participated.[2]
In 1969, Shriver moved to France and pursued her interest in intellectual disability there. She started organizing small activities with Paris organizations, mostly reaching out to families of kids who had special needs to provide activities for them, laying the foundation for a robust international expansion of the Special Olympics in the late 1970s and 1980s.[14]
In 1982, Shriver founded the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring atUniversity of Utah, Salt Lake City. The Community is a "grades K-12, whole school, comprehensive character education program with a focus on disabilities... adopted by almost 1,200 schools nationwide and inCanada".[15][16]
Shriver was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, thePresidential Medal of Freedom, in 1984 by U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan[2] for her work on behalf of persons with disabilities.[17][18] In 1988, she received theLaetare Medal, considered the highest award forAmerican Catholics, by theUniversity of Notre Dame.[19] In 1990 Shriver was awarded the Eagle Award from theUnited States Sports Academy. The Eagle Award is the academy's highest international honor and was awarded to Shriver for her significant contributions to international sport.[20][21]
In 1992, Shriver received the Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by theJefferson Awards for Public Service.[22]
For her work in nationalizing the Special Olympics, Shriver received theCivitan International World Citizenship Award.[23] Her advocacy on this issue has also earned her other awards and recognitions, including honorary degrees from numerous universities.[24][25][better source needed] She is the second American and only woman to appear on a US coin while still living. Her portrait is on the obverse of the 1995 commemorative silver dollar honoring the Special Olympics. On the reverse is the quotation attributed to Shriver, "As we hope for the best in them, hope is reborn in us."[26][27][28][29]
In 1998, Shriver was inducted into theNational Women's Hall of Fame.[30]
Shriver received the 2002Theodore Roosevelt Award (the Teddy),[31] an annual award given by theNational Collegiate Athletic Association to a graduate from an NCAA member institution who earned avarsity letter in college for participation inintercollegiate athletics, and who ultimately became a distinguished citizen of national reputation based on outstanding life accomplishment. In addition to the Teddy recognition, she was selected in 2006 as part of the NCAA Centennial celebration as one of the 100 most-influential individuals in its first century; she was listed ninth.[32] In 2006, she received apapal knighthood fromPope Benedict XVI, being made a Dame of theOrder of St. Gregory the Great (DSG).[33] Her mother had been created apapal countess in 1950 byPope Pius XII.[34]
In 2008, she received the Foremother Award from theNational Center for Health Research for her lifetime achievements.[35]
In 2008, theU.S. Congress changed the NICHD's name to theEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.[36] In December 2008,Sports Illustrated named Shriver the first recipient ofSportsman of the Year Legacy Award.[37] On May 9, 2009, the Smithsonian Institution'sNational Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Washington, D.C., unveiled an historic portrait of her, the first portrait the NPG has ever commissioned of an individual who had not served as a U.S. president orFirst Lady. The portrait depicts her with four Special Olympics athletes (includingLoretta Claiborne) and oneBest Buddies participant. It was painted byDavid Lenz, the winner of theOutwin Boochever Portrait Competition in 2006. As part of the Portrait Competition prize, the NPG commissioned a work from the winning artist to depict a living subject for the collection. Lenz, whose son, Sam, hasDown syndrome and is an enthusiastic Special Olympics athlete, was inspired by Shriver's dedication to working with people with intellectual disabilities.[citation needed]
Shriver became involved withDorothy Hamill's special skating program in the Special Olympics after Hamill'sOlympic Gamesice-skating win. In September 2010, theState University of New York at Brockport, home of the 1979 Special Olympics, renamed its football stadium theEunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium.[38]
In July 2017, Shriver posthumously received theArthur Ashe Courage Award at the2017 ESPY Awards.[39]
Shriver actively campaigned for her elder brother, John, during his successful1960 U.S. presidential election.[40][41]
Although Shriver was aDemocrat, she was a vocal supporter of theanti-abortion movement.[42] In 1990, Shriver wrote a letter toThe New York Times denouncing anabortion rights group for having used a quotation of President Kennedy's words out of context in support of their position.[43][44] Shriver was one of several prominent Democrats – includingGovernorRobert P. Casey ofPennsylvania andBishopAustin Vaughan ofNew York – who took out a full-pageThe New York Times advertisement opposing "abortion on demand" during the 1992 Democratic Convention (the Party adopted a 1992 platform that emphasized its support for abortion rights).[45][46] Shriver was a supporter of several anti-abortion organizations:Feminists for Life of America,[47] theSusan B. Anthony List, andDemocrats for Life of America.[48]
Despite being a Democrat, Shriver supported herRepublicanson-in-lawArnold Schwarzenegger's successful2003 Governor of California election.[49][50]
On January 28, 2008, aged 86, Shriver was present atAmerican University in Washington, D.C., when her brother, U.S. SenatorEdward M. Kennedy, announced his endorsement ofBarack Obama's 2008 Democratic U.S. presidential campaign.[51]
On May 23, 1953, aged 31, Shriver marriedSargent Shriver in aRoman Catholic ceremony atSaint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.[52] Her husband served as theU.S. ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970 and was the 1972 Democratic U.S. vice presidential candidate (withGeorge McGovern as the candidate forU.S. President).[52][53] They had five children:Robert Sargent Shriver III,Maria Owings Shriver (Schwarzenegger),Timothy Perry Shriver,Mark Kennedy Shriver, andAnthony Paul Kennedy Shriver.[54] Shriver had nineteen grandchildren at the time of her death.[55]
She had a close relationship with her sisterRosemary Kennedy, who was intellectually disabled and who became incapacitated due to a lobotomy.[2] Shriver suffered a stroke and broken hip in 2005.[56] On November 18, 2007, aged 86, she was admitted toMassachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she spent several weeks.[57][58]
On August 7, 2009, Shriver was admitted toCape Cod Hospital inHyannis, Massachusetts with an undisclosed ailment.[59] On August 10, her relatives were called to the hospital.[60] She died at the hospital the next day at the age of 88, two weeks before her brother, Senator Ted Kennedy, died on August 25, 2009, at the age of 77.[3][61]
Shriver's family issued a statement upon her death, reading in part:
Inspired by her love of God, her devotion to her family, and her relentless belief in the dignity and worth of every human life, she worked without ceasing—searching, pushing, demanding, hoping for change. She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power. She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more. She founded the movement that became Special Olympics, the largest movement for acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in the history of the world. Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they in turn are her living legacy.[62]
PresidentBarack Obama remarked after Shriver's death that she was "an extraordinary woman who, as much as anyone, taught our nation—and our world—that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit."[63]
On August 14, 2009, an invitation-onlyRequiem Mass was celebrated for Shriver at St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Hyannis. Following the Requiem Mass, she was buried at the St. Francis Xavier parish cemetery in nearbyCenterville, Massachusetts.[64] PopeBenedict XVI sent a letter of condolence to her family.[65] Because her brother Ted hadterminalbrain cancer, he was unable to attend the funeral, and their sisterJean Kennedy Smith stayed with him. Ted died two weeks later, leaving Jean as the sole surviving child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy until her death on June 17, 2020, at the age of 92.[66]
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA) 2002 | Succeeded by |
November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968 | ||
| Life |  | |
| Electoral | ||
| Speeches |
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| Books |
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| Assassination | ||
| Legacy and memorials |
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| Popular culture |
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| Family, family tree |
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February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009 | ||
| Electoral history |  | |
| Books | ||
| Speeches | ||
| Family, family tree |
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| Related | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
