Dorchester is the most populous neighborhood in Boston and runs from Quincy Street in the north to the Neponset River in the south. Dorchester encompasses an industrial area in the Newmarket and South Bay Center area, centered around the business district of Uphams Corner, an education area around the University of Massachusetts Boston campus, and a residential area in the south where generations of families have lived.[1]
John F. Kennedy Library and Museum
The main attraction of Dorchester is the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum at Columbia Point, off Morrissey Boulevard. The museum was designed by master architect I.M. Pei and is actually considered one of his best works. The building is sleek and constructed out of glass and concrete. It has nine exhibit halls that surround a central room where the president’s desk sits in the state that it was on November 22, 1963, the day of his assassination during a motorcade ride in Dallas. The halls are filled with displays of the president and his family’s memorabilia.[2] Highlights include artifacts from his PT-109 days in WWII[3] and items from the Cuban missile crisis. There is also a feature film 35 minutes long that chronicles his life. The centerpiece of the building is a gray glass contemplation pavilion that is eight stories high. It has a bench, a wall engraved with a Kennedy quotation, and an American flag.[4]
References:
Bond, Richard. The Insider’s Guide to New England. Edison: Hunter Publishing, Inc., 1992. ISBN: 1556504551.
“Dorchester, Massachusetts.” < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorchester%2C_Massachusetts>
“John F. Kennedy.” < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_f_kennedy>
[1] Dorchester
[2] Bond, 40
[3] John
[4] Bond, 40, 43
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