A stunning archive of over five hundred photographs beginning with Jack Kennedy's Senatorial years and continuing through his Presidency until his tragic death. The photographs are almost exclusively 8 x 10 black and white images. Approximately sixty percent of the collection was taken by R. L "Bob" Knudsen, the Naval officer who had a permanent office within the White House and was responsible for taking more photographs of President Kennedy than any other photographer. Ten percent were taken by Cecil Stoughton, while a few were taken by Jacques Lowe. The balance, particularly the pictures taken when John Kennedy was Senator, are either unmarked or were taken by assorted photographers. The pictures taken by Bob Knudsen and Cecil Stoughton have the appropriate stamps on the back indicating that they were taken on assignments for the White House. They are not copies made at later dates.
The photographic archive was amassed and sorted by Evelyn Lincoln. The photographs are in envelopes that contain Mrs. Lincoln's handwritten dates and information. Occasionally, typed White House notes are attached to the envelopes. In addition to the photographs, there are several pages of the President's itinerary for various dates.
Much of the archive contains images of President Kennedy during meetings with other leaders or individuals of great accomplishment. The President is shown on foreign trips and occasionally during relaxation. Some of the individuals who appear in this collection are: Jackie Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy, the Aga Khan, Harold MacMillan, Lyndon Johnson, Dean Rusk, Princess Grace and Prince Renier, Harry Truman, Arthur Goldberg, John Connally, civil Rights leaders, General Douglas MacArthur, Mayor Daley (Chicago), Sukarno, Andre Gromyko, Everitt Dirkson, various senators, Robert McNamara, Harold Wilson, Conrad Adenaur, Henry Cabot Lodge, King Saud, Anatoly Dobrynin, Mayor Robert Wagner (NYC), Abraham Ribicoff, Benny Goodman, Princess Sophia and Juan Carlos, Lord Hulme, Shirley Booth, and the family of Franklin Roosevelt.