Winter Auction 2015 closing February 7
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/8/2015
Presented is a chilling reminder of the one of the darkest days in American history, the November 22, 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. The 1/4" by 1/2" piece dark blue edge of the rear seat of the fateful 1961 Lincoln Continental limousine is displayed in an 11" by 14" matte with an image of JFK in Dallas that day with his wife by his side and a placard detailing the event. The seat was removed from the limousine four days after the death of JFK and several remnants were kept by F. Vaughn Ferguson, a White House Technical Service Representative. Solid provenance detailing each move of the seat accompanies the item including a photocopy of letter written to Raleigh DeGeer Amyx from Ferguson during a 1983 sale of the relics. Amyx was a noted collector of Presidential memorabilia and considered by many to have the most extensive collection of personal Presidential items in the country. In the letter, Ferguson, whose involvement with the Presidential Limousine before and after the shooting is well documented, writes, “The leather, is from the automobile in which
John F. Kennedy, President Of The United States, was Assassinated, on November 22, 1963 … Four days after the Assassination, the White House Upholsterer (Larry Arata) and I, removed this leather at the White House ... The dark blue leather is from the border of the rear seat." A detailed 13-page information packet comes with the item; the packet includes information from the Raleigh DeGeer Amyx Collection, the aforementioned letter from Ferguson and articles about the seat. Also included is a LOA from University Archives.