Young Jackie on the South Fork
The eyes are dark and wide set, and in most of the photographs look directly and unflinchingly at the camera. The face is generally serious and unsmiling but not unfriendly, and radiates poise, confidence and intelligence. Remarkably, strikingly, the face of Jacqueline Bouvier as a child and young woman is the precise face, except for the trace of some added years and more a cultivated beauty, that left the world breathless when the glamorous and youthful Jackie Kennedy became America’s first lady and a global celebrity. And it was later seen as the face of courage in full view of a grieving world when she instantly became the most recognized widow on earth.
These early black and white photographs are on display at Clinton Academy on Main Street in East Hampton in a show titled “Young Jackie on the South Fork” that was organized by the East Hampton Historical Society. They were taken by Bert Morgan, considered the dean of high society photographers, who worked in the Hamptons, Palm Beach, Newport, Saratoga and other fashionable venues from the 1920s to the 1980s, and whose archive was later acquired by Archival Farms Inc, owned by Patrick Montgomery, and made available through Getty Images. Morgan could hardly have guessed at the destiny and iconic future of this self-assured girl, but what he captured suggests someone quite out of the ordinary, even in her own predictable social sphere in that time and place. For that reason the exhibition is provocative. You can’t help wondering: Do you see some foreshadowing in the resolute and pensive look of this young child in her jodhpurs and tweed jacket of the woman who would later captivate the country, whose images were probably the most recognizable of her generation?
In discussing how she chose the photographs and what insights this gave her into Jackie’s life, Jill Malusky, executive director of the East Hampton Historical Society, said, “Where we had options, we were able to really decide which look, which expression, which movement was telling a story we wanted to share. Because Bert photographed her frequently, there was an acceptance, a familiarity, and she let her guard down. He captures some really playful expressions. It was said by teachers that young Jackie was spirited and mischievous, and you can see that look captured in a few images. I’d like to think that this roguish spirit has a strength to it, and over time, she cultivated it into the grace and reserve that we see in her later images – that sort of self-preservation takes real power. “
Morgan’s photos in the show and also in a related book titled “Young Jackie” reveal the moneyed and privileged world in which Jackie grew up. With the encouragement of Jackie’s socialite mother, he began photographing her when she was three years old for the social pages of local newspapers, then continued photographing her at horse shows, at dog shows, and at parties. Most of the photos, particularly the earliest ones, are equestrian related, showing her at four and five years old on a pony or horse, in riding gear, competing at various hunter/jumper shows. Or mounted on her favorite horse, Danseuse. Riding, jumping and foxhunting became lifelong passions. And in the Morgan photos often when she is not with a horse, she is with a dog. If you gauge the expression, she appears marginally more comfortable and happy with the animals than with the adults around her.
Jackie was born in Southampton Hospital on July 28, 1929, and continued to summer in or visit the Hamptons for years. Both sets of grandparents, the Bouviers and the Lees, newly wealthy Catholic families with newly invented aristocratic lineages, had homes in East Hampton. Her parents were married on Buell Lane in St. Philomena’s Catholic Church, now called Church of the Most Holy Trinity. Most of Jackie’s parents’ and grandparents’ generations are buried in East Hampton.
The Bouvier estate, located on Further Lane near the ocean and the Maidstone Club, was named Lasata (a Native American word for place of peace). It was here on 12 acres that included a stable, jumping ring and paddock that Jackie learned to ride and spent happy summers in a close knit family. She had easy and loving relationships with her father and grandfather who indulged her in every way (including later sending her horse to Vassar to be with her) but a more complicated one with her less affectionate mother.
In many ways her childhood was truly idyllic and happy. Her parents’ contentious marriage would have been the exception. Her father, known as Black Jack, was known to drink, gamble, overspend, and have extramarital affairs. While he may have been an imperfect husband, he seems to have been a very good father who adored his daughter and was in turn adored by her. The parents fought, and the financial situation was occasionally rocky. Her mother, Janet, found comfort and support in riding horses, just as Jackie as an adult found solace in riding. Her parents finally divorced in 1940.
Janet, as one historian puts it, “taught her that a woman could succeed only by marrying for money, albeit at the cost of much pain and suffering.” This is certainly true to some extent since according to her biographies financial insecurity was always a concern for Jackie and she depended on wealthy men. With her elegance and refinement, intellect and acumen, social skills, schooling and travels, with some family money, and immense assurance, she was well positioned to achieve what she set her sights on.
A snapshot of young Jackie’s activities paints a picture of her early life in East Hampton. Summer 1931, her second is birthday celebrated at a family cottage named Rowdy Hall…she shows Hootchie, her Scottie, at the East Hampton dog show. 1932, she begins to ride horses. 1935, she and her mother win third prize in the East Hampton family riding competition. 1937, the family visits Lasata before her parents’ final separation…she wins in her class at the Southampton Horse Show. 1938, with father at Lasata…wins blue ribbon at East Hampton horse show. 1940, multiple wins at the East Hampton horse show. 1941, more wins. 1942, summer with father and the married Englishwoman he is seeing, in an East Hampton rental. 1947, grandfather’s 82nd birthday at Lasata. 1949, Jackie’s 20th birthday at Wildmoor on Apaquogue Road.
By the time Jackie was enrolled at Vassar College as a literature major in 1947, her interests had mainly shifted away from East Hampton toward the social scene in Newport and the Virginia hunt country, where her mother, now married to the extremely rich Hugh D. Auchincloss II, had homes. She soon after began studying and traveling in Europe, perfecting her French and enhancing her proficiency in art and literature, becoming a highly cultured woman.
Her most intimate connections to East Hampton faded into the past as she matured and put her childhood and adolescence behind her. But there is no doubt that her confidence and strength, the way she valued family and community, her love of horses and nature, and her creative instincts, particularly writing, were all nurtured in the Hamptons.
The Bouvier family has been embedded in East Hampton history and tradition since 1910 when John Vernou Bouvier Jr., Jackie’s grandfather, known as the Major, bought a small house called Wildmoor on Apaquogue Road. In 1925, her grandmother, Maude Sergeant Bouvier, who had her own family money, purchased Lasata (originally built in 1917). The Major, after an inheritance from an uncle, bought the house from his wife in 1935. While we do not know their private business affairs, the purchase seems to indicate theirs was not a conventional marriage with shared assets. Though their marital relationship was troubled for years, they managed to remain together.
The more famous Bouvier house, Grey Gardens, came into the family when John and Maude Bouvier’s daughter, Edith, and her husband, Phelan Beale (a law partner of John), purchased it in 1924. In another troubled marriage, Phelan abruptly and unceremoniously got a Mexican divorce from Edith in 1946, informing her by telegram. Their beautiful and fashionable daughter, Little Edie, lived in New York City but later returned to live at Grey Gardens with Big Edie, even as the house fell into disrepair.
The Bouvier family connection to East Hampton did not end with Jackie or Little Edie. Bouvier Beale Jr., the grandson of Big Edie and Phelan, and cousin of Jackie, recalled some of the family history. “I remember, as a child, visiting East Hampton to celebrate birthdays with my grandmother (Big Edie) at places like the Palm. Eva and I got married in Bridgehampton in 1980, with a reception at Gurney’s on the ocean. Little Edie was at our wedding - which was very special for us. It was during that time that we fell in love with East Hampton and Amagansett all over again, eventually purchasing a home. I feel immense pride in owning property in a town where my family has such deep roots. The family connection to East Hampton remains as strong as it was decades ago!”
Commenting on the exhibit and the interest in young Jackie, he said: “We have wonderful letters from Jackie to the Edie’s talking about her nostalgia for her youth and those sunny summer days spent at Lasata with all the Beale cousins, where Big Edie would sing to them under the tree. Jackie mentions how great it would be to get all the cousins together again and cook hamburgers and carve pumpkins at Halloween.”
His wife, Eva Marie Beale, who maintains the Grey Gardens archives, said: “Jackie said in a letter to the two Edie's that people fall into two classes; life-enhancing, or life-diminishing. ‘In the Life-Enhancing category, I put Daddy and both of you.’”
Eva and Bouvier have published the book Edith Bouvier Beale, a Life in Pictures, with Little Edie’s writings and drawings and with memorable historic photographs of a woman now celebrated for her originality and creative style. “We were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response to our book, and that was when we knew we needed to start a brand that would keep their legacy alive. With Big and Little Edie as our muses, Grey Gardens [shopgreygardens.com] is a lifestyle brand that represents those who stay true to themselves and take pride in expressing themselves through character and style. We place a big focus on luxury and quality, so that our pieces can be enjoyed and passed down to generations to come.”
So with contemporary modifications and innovations that include branding, the Bouvier family legacy in East Hampton lives on. The exhibit “Young Jackie on the South Fork” brings it all together and reminds us just how important this history is.
Young Jackie on the South Fork. Clinton Academy, 151 Main Street, East Hampton. Through October 8th. Saturdays 10am-5pm. Sundays 12pm-5pm.
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“If you ask any realtor what are the two most iconic houses in the Hamptons, they'll tell you Lasata, the Bouvier ancestral home, and Grey Gardens.”
--Bouvier Beale Jr.
By chance, as “Young Jackie on the South Fork” is on view, the two Bouvier houses are on the market.
The classic estate Lasata has been split into two properties by the current owners Reed Krakoff (Tiffany & Co. creative director) and his interior designer wife Delphine Krakoff. The 10-bedroom main house, with pool and guest house, on 7.15 acres, is being offered for sale at a now reduced price of $34.995M by three East Hampton agencies. The house originally went on the market in the same week that the Natalie Portman bio-pic Jackie premiered at the Toronto Film festival.
The celebrated and often publicized Bouvier house, Grey Gardens, home to Jackie’s aunt, Edith Bouvier (Big Edie) Beale and cousin Little Edie, was bought in 1979 by journalist Sally Quinn and her late husband, Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee. Located on the corner of Lily Pond Lane and West End Road, just off Georgica Beach, on two acres, it is offered being at $18M. Listed by Michael Schultz, Corcoran Group, 631 324-3900.