Jackie’s Pink Suit

[Paul May]

Why Jackie Kennedy's Pink Suit from President's Assassination Is Locked Away Until the Year 2103

by Sean Neumann, people.com
November 22, 2019 12:33 PM

Jackie Kennedy’s pink suit, worn on the day of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, is one of the most heartbreaking reminders of the horror of Nov. 22, 1963. But it won’t be seen again until at least 2103 — or perhaps ever.

The National Archives confirms to PEOPLE that Mrs. Kennedy’s double-breasted wool suit is being held from public view in a custom-made, acid-free box with temperature and humidity control at the National Archives and Records Administration’s College Park facility in Maryland.

The suit won’t be available for viewing until at least the year 2103, when, according to the National Archives, the Kennedy family will reconsider whether there would ever be any sort of access.

RELATED: 25 Years After She Died, PEOPLE Celebrates the ‘Magic’ of Jackie Kennedy’s Life, Legacy and Style

Mrs. Kennedy staunchly wore the blood-soaked suit from the time her husband was shot at 12:30 pm CT on Nov. 22, 1963 until the early hours of the next morning. She had the suit on during the swearing in of President Lyndon B. Johnson on Air Force One on the way back to Washington D.C., about two hours after her husband was assassinated.

Though she was urged multiple times to change out of the suit, which was covered in President Kennedy’s blood, Mrs. Kennedy insisted, “Let them see what they’ve done.”

The pink suit — sometimes described as “watermelon pink” or “raspberry pink” — is kept in a “secure area, under climate-controlled conditions, and stored flat in special containers for preservation purposes,” according to the National Archives.

Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy’s daughter Caroline Kennedy, now 61, donated the suit to the National Archives in 2003 but requested that it not be displayed for public viewing in order to avoid “dishonor the memory” of her parents or “cause any grief or suffering to members of their family,” according to a deed given to the National Archives along with the donation.

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It’s said that the pink suit was one of President Kennedy’s favorites in the fashion icon’s wardrobe. “Mrs. Kennedy was that magic that you cannot explain,” fashion designer Manolo Blahnik previously told PEOPLE. “She typified America — just shining, full of optimism and intelligence.”

Although the suit is often confused for Chanel, it was actually a line-for-line copy from a New York shop Chez Ninon, which was approved by Chanel in France, according to Justine Picardie’s 2010 biography of Chanel.

The outfit was accompanied by a pink pillbox hat, white gloves, a navy collar and gold buttons.

RELATED: Remembering Jackie Kennedy’s ‘Enormous Style with Great Simplicity’ and the Man Behind Her Looks

The suit was first shown in Coco Chanel’s 1961 fall/winter collection, and Mrs. Kennedy had been photographed wearing it at a handful of events before that fateful day in Dallas.

[Richard Smith]

I recall reading a while back that Jackie's pink hat was not part of the NA collection.  Possibly given to some acquaintance and now its location is uncertain.

[Paul May]

I recall reading a while back that Jackie's pink hat was not part of the NA collection.  Possibly given to some acquaintance and now its location is uncertain.

It’s believed the pill box hat was given to JFK’s secretary, Evelyn Lincoln by Jackie. Where it may be today is anybody’s guess.

[Tom Scully]

It’s believed the pill box hat was given to JFK’s secretary, Evelyn Lincoln by Jackie. Where it may be today is anybody’s guess.

Paul, I had also read Evelyn Lincoln was last known to possess the pink pillbox hat. I just did a new search after reading your post.

The discussion  link below was in the search results, suprisingly, providing details leading to the 2011 latimes.com reporting, below. Nearly nine years later, maybe a secret locked behind age onset dementia, or taken to the grave. If accurate, possibly a greedy heir of one of the two women named will surface.

Clara Harris's Bloody Dress - Abraham Lincoln Research Site
http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-1266-post-27193.html
Nov 16, 2013 - 15 posts - ‎7 authors
... book on the Kennedy assassination was the whereabouts of the pillbox hat. ... gurney and others that said it was given to JFK's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln. ... 93 has Jackies pink hat, but she's kept her mouth shut about it for years .... I don't know what happened to that room during the last remodeling, but it ...

https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2011-jan-26-la-na-jackie-kennedy-pink-suit-20110127-story.html
Jacqueline Kennedy’s pink hat is a missing piece of history
By  FAYE FIORE, LOS ANGELES TIMES
JAN. 26, 2011 12 AM
......

And the hat? Agent Hill, 79, who famously lunged onto the back of the limousine that day to protect the first lady, had the answer.

“I know what happened to the hat,” he said in a phone interview. “I gave it to Mary Gallagher.”

Gallagher, 83, and Paredes, the maid who boxed up the clothes, together have posted for Internet auction a long list of items that once belonged to Mrs. Kennedy — a pink nightgown: $300-$400; a used tube of “Arden Pink” lipstick and some pale blue stationery: $200-$300; an unopened pack of Greek cigarettes and matchbook: $100-$200. (Mrs. Kennedy was a closet smoker.)

Reached by phone, Gallagher refused to discuss the hat.

“I don’t accept these kinds of calls. Over the years they’ve just been enough so that I’ve had to draw the line.... I’m sorry. I can’t help you any further,” she said, hanging up.

No one at the National Archives has ever searched for the hat because it legally belongs to Caroline Kennedy. Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful.

Many of the National Archives records are open for public research, and the Kennedy assassination remains one of the three most asked-about subjects, up there with the Watergate scandal and the alien invasion of Roswell, N.M.

The archives’ vast collection includes the president’s shirt as it was cut off by the medical team, the tie nicked by a bullet, his white lace-up back brace. Even the contents of Parkland Hospital’s Trauma Room One, where he was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. Texas time, are in a cave somewhere in Kansas.

But the whereabouts of the hat is a little-known mystery no one is working to solve; Kennedy historians contacted for this story were surprised to learn it’s missing. They suspect it was sold to a private collector, or stuck away in somebody’s attic, lost to the nation, a hole in history.

This researcher-collector mentions the article above, and I do not see that he has added the "Part 2" he hoped to post....

https://www.pinkpillbox.com/index.php/2-uncategorised/129-the-missing-pink-pillbox-part-1
The Missing Pink Pillbox Part 1
by Brandon Wolf

Exclusive to Pinkpillbox.com
November 24, 2014
.....
The Last Documented Sighting (The Map Room)

...The bag makes its way to Clint Hill.  He is Mrs. Kennedy’s agent, but he has too much to do to be keeping up with the bag.  So he gives it to Mary Gallagher, Jackie’s secretary. Gallagher opens the bag and looks at the hat, stained with blood and other matter. When she glances inside, she sees a tuft of Jackie’s hair on the ‘hat pin’ and recoils.

The Pass Off on Air Force One.....
......
About 8:00 pm, Agent Bob Foster, who was in charge of the Kennedy children, returned from Janet Auchincloss’ Georgetown home.  Janet had asked Maud Shaw to bring them over to her place until their mother returned.At Bethesda, when Jackie found out, she asked that they be brought back immediately to the White House.  “Now of all times, they need to be in their own home.”

Foster had Shaw and the two children with him and was headed for the family quarters when a White House guard approached him with the package with the hat in it.  He went into the Map Room to see what was in the bag, and instantly recognized Jackie’s pillbox hat. The guard said he had been told by Giordano to give it only to Clint Hill. Foster became infuriated with the guard, and said he was Agent Foster, not Agent Hill.

The guard apologized and said he had always had the two of them confused. Foster left with some parting words not suitable for print.

That information is straight from “The Death of a President”. Unfortunately, Manchester simply leaves it there. He does not tell us what happened next to the bag with the pillbox hat in it. Agent Foster died in 2008, so he can’t be asked. The name of the White House policeman is not given.

The Map Room at that time was used as the office for the newly created position of White House curator.  It usually was filled with items coming into the White House that were being restored. So, contrary to any rumors, Jackie’s pink pillbox hat was back in the White House and was seen in the Map Room by Agent Bob Foster and a White House policeman around 8:00 pm on November 22, 1963 – less than 12 hours after Jackie had first put it on in Fort Worth.
An Important Element of History Goes Missing

The rest of Jackie’s outfit was spirited out of the White House around 6:00 am on the morning of Saturday, November 23, 1963.  Janet Auchincloss phoned Provi Parades and told her to gather up the suit, shoes, hose, and purse and put them into a box and have them delivered to her Georgetown address.

Janet put the box in her attic along with Jackie’s wedding gown.  At some point, in the next few months or years, the suit was shipped to the National Archives, with a simple note on Janet’s stationary saying, “Jackie’s suit and bag – worn November 22nd, 1963”. A document available from the Archives lists the official inventory: Pink Chanel Suit – Jacket; Pink Chanel Suit – Skirt; Blue Blouse; Pair of Stocking, wrapped in a white towel; Pair of Blue Shoes; Blue Purse.

According to “The Death of a President”, Jackie did not know where the suit had gone to. She finally read the book in 1967, so after that it was no longer a secret. It’s possible she had the suit moved at that time. With the location known, it could be a prime object for theft.

The National Archives stored the box for years, not viewed by anyone. It was deemed not relevant to any of the assassination inquiries (The Warren Commission, and two Congressional investigations).......

....Maybe Vince knew to ask Agent Foster?

[Alan Ford]

Paul, I had also read Evelyn Lincoln was last known to possess the pink pillbox hat. I just did a new search after reading your post.

The discussion  link below was in the search results, suprisingly, providing details leading to the 2011 latimes.com reporting, below. Nearly nine years later, maybe a secret locked behind age onset dementia, or taken to the grave. If accurate, possibly a greedy heir of one of the two women named will surface.

This researcher-collector mentions the article above, and I do not see that he has added the "Part 2" he hoped to post....

....Maybe Vince knew to ask Agent Foster?

Thank you, Mr Scully, for your important contribution to this crucial research initiative from Mr May to locate the current whereabouts of Mrs Kennedy's pink pillbox hat. It's fact-driven, results-focused work like this that will ultimately bring to light the full truth of what happened in the assassination of JFK!