United States Lines Co. signed by Rose F. Kennedy for Trust of Joseph P. Kennedy - 1944 dated Autograph Shipping Stock Certificate

Stock signed on receipt by Rose F. Kennedy for Joseph P. Kennedy. Portrait and biography included.

Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy, born on July 22, 1890, was an American philanthropist, socialite, and matriarch of the esteemed Kennedy family. She was deeply immersed in the “lace curtain” Irish-American community in Boston. Her father, John F. Fitzgerald, held significant political positions, including serving in the Massachusetts State Senate (1892–1894), the U.S. House of Representatives (1895–1901, 1919), and as Mayor of Boston (1906–1908, 1910–1914). Rose’s husband, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., held prominent positions in the U.S. government, including chairing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (1934–1935) and the U.S. Maritime Commission (1937–1938). Additionally, during World War II, she served as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1938–1940). Their nine children included the future United States President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, the founder of the Special Olympics Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith. In 1951, Rose Kennedy received an extraordinary honor when Pope Pius XII ennobled her, making her the sixth American woman to be granted the prestigious rank of Papal countess.

United States Lines, a trade name of the United States Shipping Board (USSB), was an organization established in 1917. Its primary purpose was to operate German liners that had been seized by the United States during World War I. The USSB owned the ships, and the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) controlled all financial aspects of the line. Among the notable ships of this era was Leviathan, which briefly held the title of the largest ship in the world. Ultimately, the line was sold and transitioned into private ownership, continuing its operations as a transatlantic shipping company that provided cargo services from 1921 to 1989. The company also operated ocean liners until 1969, with the most famous of these being United States.

United States Lines, the trade name of the United States Shipping Board’s Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC), was established in 1917 to manage the large German liners seized by the United States. By 1925, the corporation had acquired ex-German liners Leviathan, George Washington, America, Republic, and the USSB-built ships President Roosevelt and President Harding. These vessels operated between New York and Europe. On November 15, 1921, the line commenced operations from piers 3 and 4 at the USSB’s Hoboken Terminal, which had previously housed the facilities of the Hamburg America Line in Hoboken, New Jersey. During World War I, the Army had occupied the terminal as the Hoboken Port of Embarkation. The USSB actively promoted the line and its ships through advertising agencies, employing a “coupon” system to collect names and addresses of interested individuals for direct mailings. All the line’s financial resources were managed by the USSB Treasurer.

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