Boiler Room Girls
The "Boiler Room Girls" was a nickname for a group of six women who worked as political advisors for Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign in a windowless work area in Kennedy's Washington, D.C. electoral offices. They were political strategists who received national media exposure from the infamous Chappaquiddick incident in 1969. It was in Chappaquiddick that Mary Jo Kopechne died in a car crash, in which Ted Kennedy was the driver.[1]
"Girls" of the Boiler Room[edit]
Mary Jo Kopechne[edit]
After graduating in the 1962 class of Caldwell College for Women, Mary Jo moved to Alabama where she taught at Montgomery Catholic School. She joined the staff of Senator George A. Smathers of Florida in 1963 as a secretary. One year later she became a speech writer for Joseph Dolan, one of Robert Kennedy's political advisors. After Robert Kennedy's assassination, she joined Matt Reese Associates. She became a member of Senator Edward Kennedy's office. After Chappaquiddick, reports of the incident captioned Mary as “Copachni” by the New Bedford Standard-Times, and “Palporki” by the FBI, and even “TED SAFE; BLONDE DIES” by another wire service.[4]
Mary Ellen Lyons[edit]
Mary Ellen Lyons was a graduate of Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts. Her sister, Nance Lyons, worked on Robert Kennedy's campaign staff as well. She worked for State Senator Beryl Cohen of Massachusetts.[5]
Nance Lyons[edit]
In January 1967, Nance began "working in case", assisting with constituents, federal agencies, etc. for Robert Kennedy's office. One of her projects was legislation for Massachusetts, and getting the appropriations for the National Seashore or for the Lexington Concord National Park. After Nixon was elected president, she left the government. She received a call from the Senator's office about working for Senator Edward Kennedy. She responded by agreeing to come back under the condition that she receive a legislative assistant job, as she was already doing the work. Legislative assistants wrote the legislation on national issues, as well as the committee work and hearings. In the office, all male legislative assistants had secretaries, who aided them in their work. Nance had to write everything, type it, and mimeograph it by herself. During her time in the government she worked on the economic conversion bill and National Transportation Trust Fund.[6]
Esther N. Newberg[edit]
In 1968, Esther joined Robert Kennedy's Presidential campaign where she served as an aide. After, she was known to work at the Urban Institute in Washington.[7] She later worked as a literary agent at International Creative Management.
Susan Tannenbaum[edit]
Susan Tannenbaum was from the office of Representative Allard K. Lowenstein, Nassau County Democrat.[8]
Rosemary "Crickett" Keough[edit]
Rosemary Keough was an alumna from Manhattanville College and graduated from Boston University Law School.[9] She had been an administrative assistant to Senator Robert F. Kennedy[10] who also worked for the Children's Foundation in Washington.[11] During the Chappaquiddick incident, Keough's purse was in the backseat of the sunken car, left there from an earlier errand, according to her testimony.[12] She married Paul Redmond, one of the attorneys that Kennedy hired to look after the Boiler Room Girls after the incident and up through the inquest.
Media Portrayals of Boiler Room[edit]
In 2017, John Curran directed a movie portrayal of Chappaquiddick, written by Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan.[16] The movie depicts Edward (Ted) Kennedy attempting to persuade Mary Jo Kopechne to join his presidential campaign.[17] In the film, Mary Jo is seen as a political strategist and victim to the car crash.[17] Aside from mentioning Robert (Bobby) Kennedy's campaign, the Boiler Room Girls' other political work is not mentioned.[17] The film only shows the short string of events leading up to the Chappaquiddick incident and the aftermath.[17]