Who2 Editorial Blog
Notes and Commentary from the Editors
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Kennedy Without the Schlossberg
After Caroline Kennedy's recent endorsement of Barack Obama, some blogs commented that Kennedy "dropped her married name" to give the endorsement. This aroused our curiosity.Who2 has itself always listed Kennedy by what we believed to be her legal name, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. (She married businessman Edwin A. Schlossberg in 1986.)
But now we think we've been wrong. We believe her legal name is actually Caroline Kennedy.
We've found several circumstantial proofs of this. The Library of Congress, for instance, calls her Caroline Kennedy -- and the Library is usually a stickler for name accuracy. (Kennedy has written all her books as Caroline Kennedy. She is also called that by her publisher.)
The John F. Kennedy Library (where she heads the board of directors) also calls her Caroline Kennedy.We also note that older news stories tend to use the "Schlossberg" while newer ones tend not to use it. A New York Times archive search for "Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg" shows many stories from the 1990s and early 2000s. The same search for "Caroline Kennedy" and "-Schlossberg" shows many more recent articles. That makes us wonder if perhaps newspaper stylebooks have been correcting the error over the years.
None of this addresses the question directly, of course. And we haven't found wedding announcements or other documents that say "the bride is keeping her name" or any other such direct statement.
However, we have found two places where Caroline Kennedy discussed this herself, albeit in passing. Both were in 2002. The first was on CNN's Larry King Show on May 7th (transcript):
KING: How is Mr. Schlossberg?The next instance came a week later, in a Time magazine article titled "10 Questions for Caroline Kennedy":
C. KENNEDY: He is great.
KING: That is not your -- you don't use the name Schlossberg, do you? I mean, you do and you don't.
C. KENNEDY: Right. Well, I never really changed my name. But Ed is wonderful in every possible way.
Q: Why do you use the name Kennedy on your books, rather than Kennedy Schlossberg, your married name?That second comment, in particular, seems quite clear.
A: I never actually changed my name. But people call me whatever they call me.
Because of this, as of today we have changed our profile, dropping the name Schlossberg and identifying her as Caroline Kennedy. We regret the error.
Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 4:57 AM 
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9 Comments:
Well this is good to know--I've been using Schlossberg all along (Caroline was married the year after I was born) and should switch back to the actual name. Thanks for the research on this!!
Deeply disappointed re Caroline Kennedy's endorsement of OB. Not so sure her father would concur.
I received an email stating that Obamas church is an anti Israel church and that Obama is a threat to Israel. We need to know where Obama stands on Jews and Israel.
Who2 often gets letters from readers questioning Barack Obama's church and religion, based on emails they have received.
Most of these emails have been proven false, and are possibly part of organized scare tactics designed to affect voters.
The urban legends site Snopes.com has a detailed recap of some of the email allegations against his church.
Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, which Obama has attended for 20 years, is part of a mainstream protestant demonination, the United Church of Christ.
Ms Kennedy is off abit mentally w/all she has endured w/in particular the loss of beloved brother has made her WACKY in re to backing obama she is going thru trauma of turning 50 and being married to a 63 yr old-she in essence sees obama not so much a politican but an appealing man-
I think Obama tries to walk in Jesus' shoes and should not be judged by any church, even tho he may attend there. This is a man that thinks far deeper than the wrong conclusions people keep jumping to about him; if you want the truth about him, hold back and pay attention as you learn about him.
He is complex but simple. Don't read too much into him, but do pay attention, he has expansive ideas, deep thoughts, versatile and caring character for people at all levels. Unlike ANYTHING/ONE you have seen in government yet! Which scares Republicans and empresses Democrats.
He has many facets and I hope his new position does not destroy his spirit. Because all eyes are on him as he inherits the Bush dilemma and debacle, and Repubs will fight him all the way JUST BECAUSE they are total [jerks].
I think Obama tries to walk in Jesus' shoes
I think Obamamessiah wants to wear Jesus' shoes. He thinks of himself as above the rest of us. I believe we are in for a bad 4 years. I'm praying it can be fixed by the next President.
So Caroline Kennedy says she never changed her name after marriage. Someone should ask her Why?
I personally think she should be like most normal married women and use her husbands last name like Hillary Rodam Clinton does. But then I guess I do not know much about royalty!
Caroline Kennedy clearly has more self-respect and strength than Hillary Clinton does. We all know Hillary wanted to keep her own name, but she let the voters of Arkansas bully her into taking her husband's name.
To the last poster: what's with the "royalty" slam? Almost all men keep their last names when they get married, are they all royalty? Kennedy and her husband both kept their own names, but the children all got his last name. Which partner was came out ahead in that?
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