Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was born on this day, July 28, in 1929. She was First Lady of the United States as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. Although she stated that her priority as a First Lady was to take care of the President and their children, she also dedicated her time to the promotion of American arts and preservation of its history.

Karsh wrote: “Widowhood and adversity had not yet touched the glamorous young wife of the handsome Senator from Massachusetts. Our meeting was at Hammersmith, her mother’s home in Newport. I photographed her against a Coromandel screen that complemented her dark beauty. Weeks later, in New York, she saw me walking down Fifth Avenue and rushed toward me to inquire breathlessly about her photographs. Our last meeting was shortly before her untimely death, when she came to my exhibition ‘American Legends.’ She stood alone at the entrance, her quiet presence penetrating the crowd.”