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[John F. Kennedy]. Dr. Janet Travell. Manuscript Physical Evaluation of Senator John F. Kennedy, written and drawn entirely ...
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Description
Dr. Janet P. Travell's Handwritten Physical Evaluation of Senator John F. Kennedy in 1955
The Document Used to Order His Very First "Kennedy Rocker"
[John F. Kennedy]. Dr. Janet Travell. Manuscript Physical
Evaluation of Senator John F. Kennedy, written and drawn entirely
in the hand of Dr. Janet Travell, who went on to become the
president's White House physician. Palm Beach [Florida], December
17 & 18, 1955. Two pages, 8.5 x 11 inches, ruled leaves, with JFK's
name identified at the top of each page. Before John F. Kennedy
first visited Dr. Janet Travell's New York City office on May 26,
1955, she had come to specialize in factors that were generally
regarded as environmental health, which have to do with the main
support of the lower back, and specifically with the chair's
relation to a desk or table She had a special understanding of the
issues of human engineering and its relation to seating design.When Senator Kennedy had his first consultation with Dr. Travell, he was thin, ill, suffering from poor nutrition, and still on crutches while recuperating from a spinal fusion surgery the previous October. In a 1966 interview with JFK speech writer and advisor, Theodore C. Sorensen, Dr. Travell stated, "We had from the beginning in 1955 at President Kennedy's request, Senator then, at his request, measured him and checked the kind of chairs in which he was comfortable and redesigned some of his household furnishings." From this personal request to measure him, and the initial examination, she determined there was some discrepancy of the left and right sides of his body. She found that the left side of his body was slightly smaller, that his left shoulder was lower, and his left leg was appreciably shorter. She believed that due to this discrepancy, in conjunction with a back injury suffered playing football at Harvard, he began to have his earliest attacks of back pain.
She then assessed the kind of chairs in which he was comfortable and it was during this first meeting that he sat in a Carolina rocking chair that she had in her office. When he sat in the chair he said, "This is so comfortable, why can't I have one of these?" Dr. Travell said he could. In the intervening weeks, Kennedy underwent a follow-up surgery in Washington to remove a plate in his back. He requested that Dr. Travell attend to him during his recovery in the hospital, and she thoughtfully brought a rocker along with her so that he could use it in his hospital room while convalescing.
This fascinating document comprises a physical assessment of JFK's body dimensions, which took place in Palm Beach, Florida, at the Kennedy family compound, over two days: December 17 and 18, 1955. Her evaluation includes his height, weight, back height (with separate measurements for back height to occipital lobe and to his shoulders), elbow height, overall arm length, forearm length to knuckles and to finger tips, seat height (barefoot), knees at angle, legs extended, seat depth to kneecap, and to the under-calf, lumbar curve with maximum concavity dimensions, shoe size (10C), and other measurements.
Dr. Travell goes into exact detail stipulating an ideal angle of 115° at the hips that his body needs to be when seated in the chair, recommends a high back (porch chair), with seat height of more than 17.5", a straight, well-sloped back with firm, flat seat, but emphasizes that the seat must not be hard.
She has drawn diagrams of three chairs, two with figurative representations of JFK, illustrating the proper dimensions the chair must attain for maximum benefits. She even recommends the proper cushions the chair must have based on his preferences, indicating a, "firm, short pillow which gives good lumbar support (pulls it forward at bottom for greater slope), but he likes the somewhat softer bottom cushion (firm springs) as Cf. with a no-spring, almost board-like cushion. Seat must not be hard [and is] slightly slumped."
Shortly after this physical assessment of JFK, and the wealth of details it provided, Dr. Travell ordered the first of what would become the Kennedy Rockers for the young Senator to use in his Senate office.
Condition: Slight toning, corner creases and tiny edge tears. From the Melvin "Pete" Mark, Jr. Collection
Auction Info
2022 December 1 Historical Platinum Session Signature® Auction #6267 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2022
1st
Thursday
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