The Kennedys and Georgetown are as big a part of Washington legend as Camelot itself. Whether it’s Martin’s Tavern, where JFK reportedly proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier in booth 3, or Holy Trinity Catholic Church, where JFK and Jackie and so many other Kennedys have worshiped, or 3307 N Street, Northwest, where the couple lived at the time he was elected President, the village is a hub of Kennedy lore.
A new and intriguing glimpse of the Kennedys in Georgetown emerged over the weekend. It’s a nine-minute black-and-white video clip of Jackie Kennedy doing an interview on the Home show hosted by Arlene Francis, recorded in 1957. It includes footage of Jackie and her dog charmingly making the rounds of the neighborhood—to the dry cleaner, the grocery store, and Rose Park.
There’s also a compelling moment with JFK himself, talking politics in an almost timeless patois. For context, it’s the moment in the future President’s ascent after being nominated for Vice President at the 1956 Democratic National Convention and actually announcing his candidacy for the presidency, the race he won in 1960. By then he and Jackie had moved to the N Street house.
The home in the clip is at 2808 P Street, Northwest, in a section of Georgetown known as the East Village. It is one of more than a half dozen homes where either Jack or Jackie lived in Georgetown between 1949 and 1964.