JFK assassination artifacts to get first public viewing
Feb. 17, 2013WASHINGTON — An off-white jacket. A casual long-sleeve shirt. A turquoise- and-orange wool blanket. A wallet that contains a Social Security card and family snapshots.
Lee Harvey Oswald was wearing this shirt, seen in this Nov. 22, 1963 photo, when he was arrested and charged in the death of President John F. Kennedy While these relics from the early '60s sound like everyday items, they are priceless pieces of history tied to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Beginning April 12, visitors to the Newseum in the nation's capital will have the rare chance to view these never-before-displayed artifacts belonging to Lee Harvey Oswald, the presumed gunman, as part of an exhibit marking the 50th anniversary of JFK's death. Oswald, who wore the shirt and carried the wallet when he was arrested on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, was himself shot and killed two days later by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby, a crime that was caught live on TV.
The jacket was found at a gas station near the Texas Theater, where Oswald was captured. Oswald's rifle, which was kept wrapped in the blanket in a friend's garage, was found at the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas shortly after JFK was shot.
"This is a pretty incredible opportunity to work with the National Archives and be able to display these pieces," says Carrie Christoffersen, Newseum curator and director of collections.
Christoffersen says the purpose of "Three Shots Were Fired," an exhibit of more than 100 artifacts, including the first UPI report about the attack on the presidential motorcade, "is to tell the story of how news media responded and how it fulfilled its responsibility to the public. It was a unique time in American and journalism history. The shooting led to unprecedented TV coverage over four days on the networks commercial-free. This was at a time when nightly newscasts had only just expanded from 15 minutes to a half-hour."
A collection of photos, "Creating Camelot: The Kennedy Photography of Jacques Lowe," as well as a Newseum-produced film, A Thousand Days, will bring to life the youthful glamour that the first family brought to the White House, as well as newsworthy moments of JFK's short presidency.
The exhibit, which runs through Jan. 5, 2014, will include an interactive feature that allows visitors of all ages to share the defining "JFK moment'' in their life, whether it was the bombing at Pearl Harbor or memories of 9/11.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/02/17/jfk-assassination-newseum-lee-harvey-oswald/1918279/