New Robert F Kennedy Papers Open

The Robert F. Kennedy Papers are now more fully open to the public, the Boston Globe confirmed in an editorial published this morning.  Ethel Kennedy, the Senator's widow, and other members of the Kennedy family, had long sought to limit access to the papers by designating items "personal."  See "Kennedys Keep Vise-Grip on RFK Papers," Boston Globe, Aug. 5, 2012. However, after negotiations between the National Archives and the Kennedy family, an independent archivist reviewed the relevant papers and determined that only four of the sixty-two boxes of disputed materials should be deemed "personal" and closed to researchers on that basis. The newly accessible materials pertain to Robert Kennedy's service as Attorney General of the United States; documents in the collection concern military matters, intelligence issues, the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and much more.  The papers are available for viewing at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Additional coverage of the papers and of their release is available here.