Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
I was saddened to learn that Eunice Kennedy Shriver died today, August 11, 2009. I chose to write a paper on Mrs. Shriver for my biblical leadership class, and it is one of my favorite papers. I learned a lot. Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded the Special Olympics and opened the door for other disability issues. My research helped me discover an important part of history – disability history – that I needed to know. As I write in the paper, “I am thankful I took the time to learn about an important leader who opened doors for people like me. Even though I don’t have a mental disability, who knows where I would be without Shriver’s leadership and her determination to include people with disabilities in society.”
So in honor of Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s life and passion for people with disabilities, I post this paper for my reader’s enjoyment.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
July 10, 1920 – August 11, 2009
Eunice Kennedy Shriver was born to Joseph and Rose Kennedy on July 10, 1920 in Brookline, Massachusetts. She was one of nine children and grew up with high expectations. The Kennedy’s are one of the most influential families in the United States. For decades, they have been leaders in the military, state and national governments, and everything in between. One member even became the President the United States. Public service wasn’t encouraged in this family, it was expected.
Shriver learned how to compete by playing sports with her brothers She even beat them once in awhile. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from Stanford University in 1950. Later worked for the State Department and at a women’s penitentiary.
But her heart was back home in Boston. Shriver had an older sister named Rosemary. Rosemary had a special place in the family but never excelled in life like her brothers and sisters. Rosemary was retarded. Back in the 1920s families were encouraged to put these children in intuitions and forget about them. Not the Kennedy’s. “What can they do for her that her family can’t do better?” they used to say. “We will keep her home.”
Family life went on. Other children were born. The Kennedy’s public service moved forward including living a few years in England. Upon returning to the States, however, Rosemary was not making any progress and seemed to regress in her skills. After consulting with doctors and other professionals, Rosemary’s parents finally put her in an institution where she lived until her death in 2005.
Rosemary’s life touched her sister deeply. As Eunice started to research people with mental retardation, she was shocked at what she found. Not only were most “put away,” they were living in substandard conditions. In her article, “Hope for Retarded Children,” Mrs. Shriver writes:
I remember well one state institution we visited several years ago. There was an overpowering smell of urine from clothes and from the floors. I remember the retarded patients with nothing to do, standing, staring, grotesque ¾ like misshapen statues. I recall other institutions were several thousands adults and children were housed in bleak, overcrowded wards of 100 or more, living out their lives on a dead-end street, unloved, unwanted, some of them strapped in chairs like criminals. In the words of one expert, such unfortunate people are “sitting around in witless circles in medieval prisons.” This is all the more shocking because it is so unnecessary. Yet such institutions such as these still exist. (p.72)
A good leader will see a need and go about to fulfill it. Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s experiences with her sister Rosemary and touring institutions inspired her to bring people with mental retardation into the public’s eye. She ran the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation that raised awareness for mental retardation. Millions of dollars were spent on this cause, and word started to spread that people with mental retardation were a valuable part of society.
In the September 22, 1962 issue of The Saturday Evening post, Mrs. Shriver wrote an article about her sister’s disability and the hope for other kids with mental retardation. Shriver told stories about growing up with her sister, the current living standards for disabled people, and future hope for this population. The article gave a face to people with mental retardation and helped the pubic understand the needs of this group.
The article was published with President Kennedy’s blessings and opened doors for legislation and other disability awareness during the 1970s, 80s and 90s including the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 and the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1991. Both were highly backed by Mrs. Shriver and her brother, Senator Ted Kennedy.
In 1962, Mrs. Shriver received a phone call from a mother whose son was mentally retarded. She was frantic because no one would take her son during the summer. Other organizations had programs for “normal” children but there was nothing for this child. Striver didn’t hesitate for a moment. “You don't have to talk about it anymore,” she said. “You come here a month from today. I'll start my own camp. No charge to go into the camp, but you have to get your kid here, and you have to come and pick your kid up.” (npr.org)
Camp Shriver was born. Children came and went through the years as they participated in games, obstacle courses, horseback riding, and swimming. Shriver organized the volunteers each summer and made sure each child was treated with dignity and respect.
Her son, Tim, recalls, “It took me a long time to realize that that wasn't normal. You know, to have a hundred or so young people with intellectual disabilities in your backyard wasn't a normal summer activity. But she was doing that because she went to those places and she saw the feted institutions. She saw the neglect. She saw people sitting there, and she knew they were young people.” (News Hour)
People couldn’t believe it. It was a widely held view that retarded people couldn’t think and therefore didn’t need exercise. But it worked. Every year more and more children came to the camp. They had fun. They grew. Mrs. Shriver proved everyone wrong – people with mental retardation did have something to offer.
By mid 1960s, camps were opening across the country. In 1968, one of the biggest camps in Chicago put on an event at Solder’s Field to showcase its athletes. The organizers contacted the Joseph P Kennedy Jr. Foundation to see if it could help fund the event. Eunice Kennedy Shriver did one better. Why not hold an international competition and invite people from around the world?
Shriver opened the games by telling the athletes, "In ancient Rome, the gladiators went into the arena with these words on their lips: 'Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.' Let us begin the Olympics." (npr.org)
That first Olympics hosted one thousand athletes from twenty-six states and Canada competing in athletics, floor hockey and aquatics. It was a complete success. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who attended the First International Special Olympics Games that day, said to Shriver, “You know, Eunice, the world will never be the same after this.” (specialolympics.org)
Since those first games, the Special Olympics have grown to include 2.5 million athletes from more than 150 countries with a summer games and a winter games alternating each year. It is said that the sun never sets where an athlete isn’t training for the Special Olympics.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver is a true Visionary leader. She looked beyond the disabilities of some people and saw their abilities. She was ahead of her time. “To say that Mrs. Shriver almost single-handedly changed the way an entire world viewed people with mental retardation would be not far off the mark.” (Stossel, P. 659)
Being a Kennedy helped. Mrs. Shriver couldn’t have accomplished all she did without the support of her family and the positions they held. But more than that, Shriver loved her sister, Rosemary. "I had enormous affection for Rosie," Shriver says. "If I [had] never met Rosemary, never known anything about handicapped children, how would I have ever found out? Because nobody accepted them anyplace." (npr.org)
A personal note. I guess I had heard that a member of the Kennedy family founded the Special Olympics, but beyond that I knew nothing about the founder or the organization. I know people who are Special Olympics volunteers, but I never had much interest in it myself. Studying Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her leadership has opened my eyes and taught me a history I didn’t know.
As someone with a disability, I am thankful I took the time to learn about an important leader who opened doors for people like me. Even though I don’t have a mental disability, who knows where I would be without Shriver’s leadership and her determination to include people with disabilities in society.
This study has also been helpful as I continue my work in disability ministry. I discovered the foundation of the disability movement, and I will be able to build on it as I lead Mephibosheth Ministry in the coming years.
Word count: 1388
Bibliography
Borek, David, Danny Lovett, and Elmer Towns. The Good Book on Leadership, Nashville:
Broadman & Holman, 2005.
Dinn, Sheila. Hearts of Gold: A celebration of Special Olympics and Its Heroes, Woodridge:
Blackbirch Press, Inc: 1996.
“Eunice Kennedy Shriver's Olympic Legacy.” NPR.com. 207. National Public Radio. 5 April 2007. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9136962
Leamer, Laurence. The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family, New York:
Villard Books: 1994.
Shapiro, Joseph P. No Pity, New York: Times Books, 1993.
Shriver Kennedy, Eunice. “Hope For Retarded Children” Saturday Evening Post September 22, 1962: 71-78.
Shriver, Tim. Interview. Online News Hour. 12 July 2006 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/sports/july-dec06/shriver_07-12.html.
Stossel, Scott. Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver, Washington: Smithonian Books:
2004.
