Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. - Background and Education

Background and Education

Joseph Patrick Kennedy was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the elder son of Mary Augusta Hickey Kennedy and P. J. Kennedy, a successful businessman, ward boss and Irish American community leader. All of Kennedy's grandparents had immigrated to Massachusetts in the 1840s to escape the Irish famine. Kennedy was born into a highly sectarian society, where Irish Catholics were excluded by upper-class Boston Brahmins. Boston Irish became thus active in the Democratic Party, including P. J. and numerous relatives.

P. J. Kennedy's home was comfortable, thanks to his successful saloon business, investments, and an influential role in local politics. His mother encouraged Joseph to attend the Boston Latin School, where Joe was a below average scholar but was popular among his classmates, winning election as class president and playing on the school baseball team.

Kennedy followed in the footsteps of older cousins by attending Harvard College. He focused on becoming a social leader, working energetically to gain admittance to the prestigious Hasty Pudding Club. While at Harvard he joined the Delta Upsilon International fraternity and played on the baseball team, but was blackballed from the Porcellian Club.