By Jane Sonneman, Archivist
The Kennedy Library is pleased to announce the opening of the Donald and Susan Wilson Personal Papers.
Donald (Don) M. Wilson and Susan (Susie) N. Wilson were friends of the Kennedy family. The collection highlights the contributions made by the Wilsons during the Kennedy administration, when Don served as the deputy director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) and Susan helped Jacqueline Kennedy to establish the White House School. Also documented in this collection is their work on various presidential campaigns and Susan’s travels with Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy.
Donald (Don) M. Wilson was born on June 27, 1925. He graduated from Yale University in 1949 and went on to work for LIFE magazine as a reporter and later foreign correspondent covering the Korean and Vietnam wars. In 1956 he led LIFE’s Washington, D.C. bureau where he first met John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.
In 1960, Wilson joined the Kennedy campaign as deputy press secretary and was appointed deputy director of the United States Information Agency in 1961. He served in this role during the Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations until 1965. The USIA was the information arm of the federal government and provided information about the official policies of the United States to both foreign and domestic audiences using media outlets like print and broadcasting formats. Additionally, the agency advised the President and U.S. government officials on how foreign perceptions of the U.S. may affect national policies.
In October 1962, Wilson was asked to step in for USIA director Edward Murrow — who was severely ill at the time — and serve as the USIA’s representative on the newly formed Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExCOMM). The committee was created to advise President Kennedy on possible responses to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Images taken on October 14th by an American U-2 spy plane confirmed that the Soviet Union was installing medium-range nuclear weapons along the coastline of Cuba. Kennedy worried about the international perception of the events unfolding and in anticipation of any form of conflict wanted the people of Cuba to know that the Soviets had installed the missiles. As interim head of the USIA, Wilson organized with U.S. radio stations in the southeastern part of the U.S. to broadcast the Spanish-language Voice of America. The program stayed on air in an infinite loop for several weeks during the crisis. He also argued for the release of the classified U-2 photographs to the international press to demonstrate the scope of the Soviets activities, which resulted in international opinion swaying in favor of the United States.
In 1968, Wilson served as press secretary for Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign. Following his work on the campaign, Wilson was named Time Inc. corporate vice president for public affairs where he remained until his retirement in 1989. Wilson passed away on November 29, 2011.
Susan (Susie) N. Wilson was born on January 17, 1930. She graduated from Vassar College in 1951 and received a Master of Science in Education from Bank Street College in 1976. Following her college graduation, Susan worked as a reporter for LIFE magazine where she met Donald Wilson while he was on break from his assignment in Asia. Susan and Don married in 1957 and moved to Washington D.C. following their honeymoon. Though they had briefly been classmates at Vassar, Susan Wilson became acquainted with Jacqueline Kennedy through a Georgetown playgroup both of their children were in while John F. Kennedy was a senator. Following the election of Kennedy to the presidency in 1960, Wilson was asked by Mrs. Kennedy to help organize a school group for their young children at the White House, known as the White House School.
The White House School was conceived by Jacqueline Kennedy in an effort to give her children a “normal” school environment where they would be protected from the media’s interest in the Kennedy family. As their two oldest children were of similar ages, Jacqueline asked Susan to help her organize the school and find someone to work as head teacher. Wilson executed Mrs. Kennedy’s vision for the school and its teaching philosophy; found a candidate, Alice Grimes, to fill the head teacher role; and arranged carpools to bring the children to the White House throughout the school year.
The White House School opened on September 20, 1962, and operated through the 1962-1963 school year. The third floor solarium of the White House was transformed into a kindergarten classroom. The class consisted of 20 children who were split between a kindergarten class taught by Miss Grimes and a nursery group taught by Elizabeth Boyd. The curriculum consisted of music class (rhythms); ballet taught by a teacher from the Washington School of Ballet; French; indoor and outdoor activities; story time; and a ten minute juice break. The school put on recitals and held special events including a “Father’s Day at the White House School” where fathers were invited to spend the morning with their children. Mrs. Kennedy and Susan Wilson established plans to continue the school for the next year, but these plans were cut short by the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.
During the Kennedy administration, Wilson also accompanied Ethel and Robert Kennedy on their month-long international goodwill trip in 1962. Additionally, the Wilsons were frequent guests at the lecture series hosted by the Kennedys at their Hickory Hill estate. Inspired by her friendship with the Kennedys and their goodwill efforts, Wilson became a pioneer in the sex education movement recognizing the correlation between poverty, access to comprehensive sexuality education, and teenage pregnancy. In 1978, Wilson was appointed to the New Jersey State Board of Education and helped establish statewide policy requiring sexuality education in K-12 public schools. Additionally, she served as executive director of Answer, a nonprofit national organization based out of Rutgers University that provides comprehensive sexuality education resources to teens and adults, beginning in 1981 and until her retirement in 2004.
The collection is arranged into two series. Series 1. Donald Wilson Subject Files, 1959-2015, contains Don Wilson’s personal papers including correspondence, memorandums, subject files, photographs, and writings. Topics include the United States Information Agency, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and campaign materials from John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign and Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign. Series 2. Susan Wilson Subject Files, 1961-2014, contains Susan’s personal papers including correspondence, writings, photographs, and subject files. Topics include the White House School and Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy’s goodwill trip in 1962.
All are welcome to research these materials; learn more about planning a visit here or by contacting Reference staff at Kennedy.Library@nara.gov.