The Tragic Story of The 'Hidden Kennedy' | Rosemary Kennedy, Forced to Have a Lobotomy

the kennedy family is one of the most famous and influential in modern history along with its high some would argue that they've had more than their fair share of misfortune today we'll look at one member of the kennedy family whose story may be less known but which is no less tragic in today's episode of well i never the story of rosemary a bright and vibrant young woman who was hidden away after an operation went tragically wrong born on september 13 1918 rose marie or rosemary as she would become known was the third child of the

prominent american businessman and politician joseph p kennedy and his wife rose elizabeth fitzgerald unfortunately rosemary's birth coincided with the height of the spanish flu epidemic a devastating event that would ultimately kill between 20 and 50 million people worldwide at the time the kennedys were residing in the city of brookline and massachusetts which was experiencing a surge in patients diagnosed with the deadly influenza because of this rose's doctor was unavailable when she initially went into labor which resulted in her attempting to delay the birth of her first daughter she had received this advice from the presiding

nurse and it was a course of action that would have tragic consequences according to the book the house of kennedy quote the nurse orders rose to squeeze her legs tightly together to delay the birth and go so far as to push the baby's partially exposed head back into the birth canal for two excruciating hours depriving the baby's fragile system of oxygen until dr good arrives when the doctor finally arrives he delivers a baby girl and pronounces her healthy the kennedys initially believed dr good's announcement but as little rosemary grew signs that she was different became

harder to ignore she was reportedly slower to crawl slow to walk and slower to speak than her two older brothers joe jr and john her younger siblings continued to develop at a much faster rate compared to rosemary which further cemented her family's belief that there was something wrong with the eldest kennedy girl to understand what their daughter was going through her parents approached several specialists who informed them that rosemary's condition was a result of the oxygen deprivation she suffered at birth this diagnosis spurred the kennedys to hide all signs of rosemary's disability the eugenics movement

was popular amongst the elites of the time wherein they believed certain peoples and social groups they deemed undesirable were born with a bad gene and should not be allowed to reproduce the catholic church was also a big part of their life and at the time they denied disabled people communion and confirmation a hangover from bygone times where they believed those with mental disabilities or learning difficulties were actually possessed by demons fearing rejection from their social circle rosemary was packed off to various boarding schools making it easier to keep her condition secret despite these actions the

kennedys would also often dote on rosemary going out of their way to involve her in their activities a teenage rosemary would fill her diary with vivid descriptions of the people and dignitaries whom she met as well as the many dancers and concerts that she went to however it wasn't easy for rosemary to participate in family activities to quote the john f kennedy national historic site the kennedy siblings were competitive and their parents demanded much of them this sort of lifestyle provided many challenges for rosemary who grew frustrated that she could not live up to the

accomplishments of her siblings the others tried to include her but with careful supervision these feelings of frustration were made even worse by her parents who staunchly believed that their daughter's disability would be cured if she was held to the same standard as the rest of her siblings they combined this thinking with specialized education and several experimental treatments all these efforts amounted to nothing and rosemary's intellectual abilities never passed a fifth grade level in 1938 joe kennedy senior was given the coveted role of united states ambassador to the united kingdom the entire family relocated to london

where they soon found their social calendars to be chock full of parties events and meetings despite this busy schedule 19 year old rosemary thrived in england her parents enrolled her in a convent school that followed a montessori program which she enjoyed immensely not only did it accommodate her disability but it also provided her with comfort and stability both of which her previous boarding schools had lacked her beauty and charm also attracted the british press and in may 1938 she along with her younger sister kathleen were presented to king george vi and queen elizabeth at buckingham

palace the newspapers had a field day plastering photos of the smiling kennedy girls on their front pages rosemary in particular was deemed exquisite in a white dress with tulle and silver embroidery unfortunately the kennedy's time in london would be cut short when war was declared with germany in september 1939. the entire family except for rosemary and her father fled back to the safety of the united states she on the other hand was sent to belmont house a montessori school which offered her a respite from the mounting pressure that she was facing from the british press

rosemary was said to have found true happiness at belmont house but this period of bliss wouldn't last for long in november 1940 joe senior was forced to resign from his job as ambassador after his known nazi sympathies combined with his public claims that britain would lose the war made him more trouble than he was worth because of this he was recalled back to the united states where he and rosemary joined the rest of their family but life back in america proved to be disastrous for rosemary who found herself ripped away from the incredible support system

that she had become used to at belmont house thrust back into the competitive world of the kennedys she reportedly regressed lashing out everyone around her experiencing seizures and violent temper tantrums more than that though she would frequently break out of the convent school where she was enrolled at to roam the streets of washington dc by herself her parents found this particularly concerning due to the 1932 lindbergh tragedy the kidnapping of charles and anne lindbergh's son had caused many wealthy american families to feel afraid that their own children would be abducted too and the kennedys weren't

exempt from this paranoia worried about rosemary's safety and the possibility of her disorder becoming public knowledge joe senior arranged for her to undergo a prefrontal lobotomy which was a recently developed surgical operation that promised to revolutionize the way people with mental disabilities were treated the controversial operation involves seven connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex either by drilling into the skull and using a sharp tool or cutting out the middle man and entering the skull via the nose or eye socket despite the health care industry's misgivings about the procedure joe senior gave doctors the green light

to perform the surgery on his eldest daughter he also chose not to consult his wife or anyone else in the family beforehand to this day some continue to allege that rosemary herself wasn't told about the controversial procedure she would be undergoing either strapped to an operating table and with her head shaved rosemary was awake for the entire surgery during the procedure she was asked to sing songs and recite prayers as the doctors probed around inside her head they stopped the minute rosemary went quiet immediately knowing something had gone drastically wrong later it was said the

procedure had been so traumatizing for all those involved that the attending nurse quit her job and left the medical profession the lobotomy transformed 23 year old rosemary kennedy from a vibrant and beautiful girl with a manageable behavioral problem into one with the mental state of a two-year-old unable to walk or speak her horrified father sent her to a psychiatric hospital located in upstate new york which confused the rest of her siblings who were still unaware of the operation after managing rosemary's condition for so long why was she being institutionalized now eunice kennedy the sibling whom

rosemary was closest to would later claim that she had no idea where her older sister was for over a decade to keep up appearances their parents publicly stated that their elder's daughter was away studying to become either a teacher or a social worker joe senior initially maintained the facade that rosemary was doing well but never once mentioned the lobotomy that he had forced her to take after 1944 the family's personal correspondence no longer made reference to the eldest kennedy girl in 1946 john kennedy was elected into the house of representatives and it didn't take long

for him to set his sight on the oval office with his son starting out on his road to the white house joe senior began to worry that the truth of rosemary's situation may get out and derail his son's ambitions so he had her moved to another institution in wisconsin far from her friends and family joe senior would continue to feed his family excuses to discourage them from visiting their sister and he was also content never to see his daughter again it would take at least two decades before rosemary kennedy saw the rest of her family

again her father died never having visited her once and while there are rumors that jon stopped by during his campaign trail this has never been proven once they learned about the horrifying lobotomy that derailed their sister's life the kennedy siblings did all they could to fight for her while president of the united states john enacted several legislations that aimed to fund research studies and programs for the disabled younger sister eunice earmarked a portion of funds from the kennedy foundation to fund research into mental and physical disabilities she also went on to create camp shriver a

retreat that aims to provide disabled children with a fun and normative experience the camp gave those with a range of mental and physical disabilities the chance to take part in physical events and this would eventually spawn the special olympics as for rosemary she was gradually brought back into the fold after her father's death in 1969 and would visit relatives and join her siblings on holiday she's said to have found being around her mother difficult but enjoyed spending time with her many nieces and nephews by this time she had also learned to walk again but would

never fully regain her ability to talk clearly she died of natural causes in 2005 at the age of 86 with her siblings by her side despite the tragic things that rosemary had to go through her life had a massive impact on her family and in turn on america and the world she helped them see that no person is insignificant and through their influence they have helped others to see that too and ted kennedy's words rosemary taught us the worth of every human being thank you for watching and thank you to viewer manly who recommended us

to cover rosemary's story if you have a topic or person from history you think we should do an episode about let us know in the comments below or head over to our patreon page to catch our ear there right then until next time take care and i'll see you in the next one you