Frank Rigg, member of the Concord Rotary chapter captivated us with tales of his times as Curator of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Frank has a storied past working at the Paul Revere Memorial Association during the bicentennial, the New England Aquarium and all this while being British.
Frank joined the museum in 1979 at the behest of the then-curator and was the curator during the build out of the now beautiful I.M. Pei designed museum. To create a legacy to President Kennedy atop an old city dump no less, Frank had to traverse Boston politics on both sides of the river. It was an incredible time, everyone was demanding attention, trying to get Jackie Kennedy’s attention and he trying to get his job done and museum open in the meantime.
Opening day at the museum brought 10,000 guests including the entire Kennedy family, President Carter and other notables.