About Me
Ethel Skakel Kennedy (born April 11, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois) is a member of the Kennedy family by her marriage to Robert F. Kennedy. Her parents were Ann (nee) Brannack, who was Catholic, and George Skakel, who was Protestant. She was raised as a Catholic in the affluent town of Greenwich, Connecticut. Her father was the founder of the very successful Great Lakes Carbon Corporation [1], which is affiliated with the steel industry. Ethel attended the all-girls Greenwich Academy[1] [2]in Greenwich, Connecticut, as well as The Convent of the Sacred Heart in the Bronx. In September 1945, Ethel began her collegiate education at Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart, then located in Manhattan. Here she met Jean Kennedy (sister of Robert F. Kennedy) and they eventually became friends and roommates.
She met Robert F. Kennedy (Bobby) during a skiing trip to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada during the winter of 1945. At the time, he was dating Ethel's sister, Patricia Skakel. Eventually that relationship ended and Ethel and Bobby started seeing each other. Ethel campaigned for John F. Kennedy in 1946, and wrote her college thesis on his book Why England Slept.
Bobby and Ethel became engaged in February 1950. According to Jerry Oppenheimer's book, the Skakel family sent out over 1200 invitations to a lavish engagement party they hosted at their Lake Avenue mansion. The couple were married on June 17, 1950 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenwich. Ethel's wedding dress and bridal party gowns were created by noted New York fashion designer Mamie Conti.
As newlyweds, Ethel and Bobby moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where they lived while Bobby finished his last year at the University of Virginia Law School. Their first child, Kathleen, was born on July 4, 1951. After graduating with his law degree, the family settled in the Washington, D.C. area and Bobby went to work for the Department of Justice. However, that path did not last long as RFK was drafted by his family to manage John F. Kennedy's 1952 Senate campaign in Massachusetts.
Throughout the Fifties, Kennedy worked for the federal government, in investigatory roles such as for the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations with the notoriously anti-Communist Senator Joe McCarthy and as chief counsel for the Senate Democrats.
In contrast, Ethel's sphere of influence was their home life. In 1956, the Kennedys purchased Hickory Hill from Bobby's brother John and his wife, Jackie. They needed a larger house, since Ethel was pregnant with their fifth child. This enormous 13 bedroom, 13 bath home, situated on six acres in prestigious McLean, Virginia, would prove to be an important place for socializing, both for the family and the local glitterati.
In contrast to their famous in-laws, Ethel and Bobby held many raucous get-togethers at their home. Getting an invite to Hickory Hill was highly coveted. Whether it was a pool party or a formal dinner party, the guest list was impressive and eclectic. Journalist Roger Mudd remembers meeting John Lennon at one such party. Other notable invitees included the Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, entertainer Judy Garland, dancer Rudolf Nureyev and historian Arthur Schlesinger, who found himself thrown into the pool fully clothed where Ethel was also already swimming fully clothed. [3].
The Kennedy children added to the wild atmosphere at Hickory Hill. Notoriously, Robert Jr. had a zoo in the basement. It was not unusual to see reptiles, a seal, miniature ponies and even an elephant on the grounds [4]. In fact, Jackie found the children so wild that she did not allow Caroline and John Jr. to play with their cousins.[5]
In October 2003, the Boston Globe reported that Ethel was selling the legendary residence for $25 million [6]. She continues to live at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannisport, Massachusetts.
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