June 2013 Auction Ends Thursday, June 27th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/27/2013
Two pieces of bloodstained leather from the backseat of the blue Lincoln Continental in which President Kennedy was riding when he was tragically assassinated in Dallas, Texas. A haunting pair, literally cut from the limousine in which the President sat when he was gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald on 22 November 22 1963. Known as the ''SS-100-X'', the customized open-air limousine was lengthened, reinforced, and even had the seat raised so on-lookers could have a better view of the President. After the assassination, F. Vaughn Ferguson, the Technical Service Representative at the White House responsible for the presidential automobiles, was told by the Secret Service to clean the limousine and get it ready in case the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, wanted to use it to attend the funeral. When Ferguson arrived at the garage, he found parts of the limo dismantled and the leather seats ripped out, the result of an FBI search for bullet fragments. ''Blood was everywhere,'' Ferguson remembered. He worked throughout the weekend to get the car ready, but President Johnson didn't use it. Ferguson kept some of the ripped-out leather as a memento. The light blue piece measures 2.25'' x 1.75'', while the dark blue is approximately 3'' x 2''. Lot includes a typed letter signed from Ferguson, on White House letterhead, which reads in part, ''...The leather, light blue and dark blue, is from the automobile in which John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, was Assassinated...Four days after the Assassination the White House upholsterer and I removed this leather at the White House. The light blue leather is from the center of the rear seat. The dark blue letter is from the border of the rear seat. The spots on the leather are the dried blood of our beloved President, John F. Kennedy...'' Additionally included are three Kodak color photographs, each with an autograph note signed on verso verifying authenticity by presidential historian Raleigh DeGeer Amyx. Photos are of: (1) Ferguson signing the included letter, measuring 3.25'' x 5.75''; (2) bloodied rear seat of the limo, measuring 7'' x 5''; (3) President Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy in the limo with Texas Governor John Connally, measuring 6'' x 4''. A rare and important collection of American history.
JFK Assassination Collection Featuring Two Pieces of Bloodstained Leather From The Dallas Limousine -- Provenance From White House Official Who Removed Them
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