Kennedy Center Opens
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PrintThe John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opens. The opening performance took place in the Opera House, with Bernstein's "Mass." The Concert Hall opened the following night with a special performance of the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Eisenhower Theater opened on October 18, 1971 with a presentation of Ibsen's "A Doll's House." Officially a bureau of the Smithsonian, the Center is administered by its own board of trustees.
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (U.S.)
Chronology of Smithsonian History
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
September 8, 1971