How a botched lobotomy on a member of the Kennedy family may have led to the creation of the Special Olympics

Rosemary had been slower learn to crawl, walk, and speak than her siblings — including John, Robert, Ted, and Eunice — and suffered from seizures. In her early 20s, her condition had deteriorated. She had also become prone to mood swings.

Sources: Guardian, HuffPost, Insider

It was an era when intellectual disabilities were often seen as shameful and families would sometimes even hide their disabled relatives away.  

At one point, Shriver said Rosemary's condition was comparable to syphilis: "No one mentioned it in polite company."

Joseph Sr. was conscious of how mental disability would reflect on the rest of the family, especially since he had huge ambitions for his children. Soon after, Rosemary was institutionalized and was barely acknowledged by her family for almost 20 years.

Sources: Guardian, HuffPost, Insider, LARB,  Smithsonian Magazine, History

"It always seemed that Eunice reached out to make sure that Rosemary was included in all activities — whether it was dodgeball or duck-duck-goose," Ted Kennedy told the Los Angeles Times in 1987.

"Eunice was the one who ensured that Rosemary would have her fair share of successes," he added.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Originally established for general charitable work, she narrowed its focus to intellectual disabilities. 

Her biographer Eileen McNamara who wrote "Eunice: The Kennedy Who Changed the World," told PBS she essentially "hijacked" the foundation to focus it on helping these children. 

Sources: New York Times, Special Olympics, PBS, HuffPost

Shriver told her the child could come to her house. She would run a camp out of her home called Timberlawn in Maryland. The first camp, called "Camp Shriver," had 34 children and 26 students monitoring them.

In the late 1950s, early research had found a link between intellectually disabled children doing better in the classroom if they exercised. Shriver watched the children, swam with some of them, and said she saw this firsthand. 

"I suppose the fact that I had seen my sister swim like a deer — in swimming races — and do very, very well just always made me think that [people with disabilities] could do everything," she once said.

Shriver's husband, Sargent, later told the Los Angeles Times part of the importance of these early camps had been for Shriver to see what the kids could do. 

"So she tried everything. She had 'em on horseback, swimming, on a trampoline, shooting bows and arrows, climbing trees, building tree houses, playing tennis," he said.

"It wasn't that she was sitting up there with a magic wand waving to everybody, 'Now do this! Now do that!' She was out there," he continued.

Sources: NPR, Special Olympics, History, Los Angeles Times

"It fills me with sadness to think this change might not have been necessary if we knew then what we know today," she wrote, referring to her sister being institutionalized.

In the article, she didn't mention the lobotomy. Even so, her article was a big deal. It helped begin to ease some of the social stigma around disabilities.

Sources: New York Times, Special Olympics, Los Angeles Times, PBS

In 1965, she made a speech in Dallas saying it was time for "a national tournament of athletic contests among teams of mentally retarded children."

Sources: Chicago Magazine, LARB

Previously, McGlone had requested funds from a local charity. 

One of the charity's representatives had told her she "should be ashamed of yourself for putting these kinds of kids on display."

In contrast, the Kennedy Foundation provided $25,000 and McGlone did the bulk of the preparation for the event.

Sources: Chicago Magazine, Washington Post

In her opening address, Shriver said, "The Chicago Special Olympics prove a very fundamental fact, the fact that exceptional children with mental retardation can be exceptional athletes, the fact that through sports they can realize their potential for growth."

A teenager lit a 45-foot tall flame called the "John F. Kennedy Flame of Hope."

Sources: NPR, New York Times, Guardian, Special Olympics, Special Olympics, Chicago Magazine

Sources: NPR, New York Times, Guardian, Special Olympics, Special Olympics, Chicago Magazine

Sources: Smithsonian Magazine, USA Today, Washington Post

Source: Special Olympics

Sources: Guardian, Chicago Magazine

She told the Los Angeles Times, "Certainly, if you have a sister who learns slowly, you are obviously aware of certain things — insights that you wouldn't have if you never had a sister who is slow to learn. But would I have gone into this for her, and do I run around for her? No."

McNamara, her biographer, said she thought "there was some guilt that she was complicit in some way in letting Rosemary languish far from home."

Lawrence Leamer, author of several Kennedy biographies, wrote in HuffPost that after repeatedly asking her whether Rosemary had inspired her work, Shriver said, "You know maybe you're right, maybe there's something there but I just can't see it."

Sources: New York Times, Special Olympics, PBS, HuffPost, Los Angeles Times

Source: Christian Science Monitor

Source: New York Times

By 2018, the Special Olympics had 5.7 million participants in almost 180 countries.

Sources: New York Times, History, Pacific Standard Magazine

Her son, Tim Shriver, who is now the Special Olympics Chairman, received the award on her behalf.  

"My mother knew one thing," he said. "She knew that the athletes of Special Olympics have the same dedication, the same commitment, the same guts, and they deserve the same glory of any other athlete."

Sources: WCVB, Guardian

Source: WCVB