History

In 1968, Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded and was the honorary chairman of Special Olympics.  She was a leader in the worldwide struggle to improve and enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities for more than three decades.  Shriver took over the direction of the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation, which was established in 1946 as a memorial to Joseph P. Kennedy who was killed in World War II.  The two major objectives of this foundation are: to seek the prevention of intellectual disabilities by identifying its causes and to improve the means by which society deals with citizens who have intellectual disabilities.

In 1972, Dr. Roger Kerns (Fargo, North Dakota) founded Special Olympics North Dakota (SOND).  Dr. Kerns’ first experience with Special Olympics happened when he took some children with intellectual disabilities to compete in track & field at Soldiers Field in Chicago.  After realizing the difference Special Olympics could make on a person’s life, he organized the first Special Olympics Games in Fargo, North Dakota during the summer of 1972.