Early Life
Born in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Rose Fitzgerald was the eldest of six children born to John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald and Mary Josephine "Josie" Hannon. Honey Fitz was a prominent figure in Boston politics and served one full term and almost eight months of another in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as two terms as the Mayor of Boston.
As a young child, Rose lived in an Italianate/Mansard-style home in the Ashmont Hill section of Dorchester, Massachusetts and attended the local Girl's Latin School. The home later burned down, but a plaque at Welles Avenue and Harley Street proclaims "Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Square". The plaque was dedicated by her son, Senator Ted Kennedy, on Rose's 102nd birthday in 1992.
Rose studied at the convent school Kasteel Bloemendal in Vaals, The Netherlands, and graduated from Dorchester High School in 1906. She also attended the New England Conservatory in Boston where she studied piano. After being refused permission by her father to attend Wellesley College, Fitzgerald enrolled at the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart (as it was known at that time), an institution which did not grant degrees at the time. In 1908, Fitzgerald and her father embarked on a tour of Europe. She and "Honey Fitz" had a private audience with Pope St. Pius X at the Vatican.
Read more about this topic: Rose Kennedy
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