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- Eunice Kennedy Shriver speaks at the 1987 Special Olympics World Summer Games in South Bend, Indiana, USA.
resources.specialolympics.org/marketing-and-communications/photos-and-videos/special-olympics-video-resources/eunice-kennedy-shriver-a-message-of-hope-a-message-of-victoryEunice Kennedy Shriver-"A Message of Hope, A Message of Victory"
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Sep 23, 2024 · The concept of the Special Olympics was born in 1962 while Shriver hosted a summer day camp for intellectually disabled children at her farm in Maryland. The first Special Olympics were held in Chicago in 1968, sponsored by the Chicago Park District and the Kennedy Foundation, and saw the participation of 1,000 contestants from 26 states and ...
- Pat Bauer
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics, was a pioneer in the worldwide struggle for rights and acceptance for people with intellectual disabilities. Eunice Kennedy Shriver believed in justice. But, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, she saw little justice in the way.
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After a mishandling during birth and a brutally botched medical procedure, Rosemary Kennedy was compromised for life—but that would inspire her sister to make a difference.
The Special Olympics, which recognizes the athletic potential of people with intellectual disabilities, is one of the most recognizable and respected charitable organizations in the United States. But without the tragedy sustained by a member of the Kennedy family with an intellectual disability, it may never have gotten its start.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, one of John F. Kennedy’s sisters, founded the Special Olympics. And some of her inspiration came from a less recognized member of the Kennedy family: her older sister Rosemary.
John F. Kennedy Illnesses
Rosemary’s story was tinged with tragedy from the moment of her birth in 1918. During her labor, her mother Rose had opted for a home birth assisted by a doctor and a nurse. But when the doctor arrived late for the delivery, the nurse opted to push the nearly-born baby back into the birth canal, holding her there for two excruciating hours rather than allow the baby to be born without the doctor’s assistance. “I had such confidence in my obstetrician,” recalled Rose later. “I put my faith in God and tried to sublimate my discomfort in expectation of…happiness.”
In reality, the decision to hold the baby inside the birth canal had led to tragedy. The pressure had deprived Rosemary of oxygen and led to seizures, learning delays and symptoms of mental illness.
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Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968. [13] That year, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation helped to plan and fund the First International Special Olympics Summer Games, held in Chicago's Soldier Field where 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 26 states and Canada competed. [11]
In 1968, she opened the first Special Olympics, welcoming 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities onto Chicago’s Soldier Field just as she and her husband, R. Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps, had welcomed 100 children with similar disabilities to a makeshift sports camp on their Maryland estate yearly since 1962.
The idea behind that first Camp Shriver began to grow. In July 1968, the first International Special Olympics Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Learn more about the events leading up to the founding of Special Olympics.
A fast-paced overview of Eunice's life and pioneering accomplishments, told by her family, a Special Olympics athlete and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela.
