LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Apr Books, Manuscripts & Autographs #658  / 

25572

[John F. Kennedy] Assassination Archive

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:875.00 USD Estimated At:3,500.00 - 5,000.00 USD
[John F. Kennedy] Assassination Archive
<B> John F. Kennedy Assassination Archive</B></I> A smoking gun? A JFK assassination archive containing reports and notes from Presidential Doctor, Janet Travell, in an attempt to prove/disprove the pristine bullet theory. Also, a letter from the Select Committee of Assassinations requesting the "... pre-assassination x-rays of the late President John F. Kennedy..." <BR><BR>Dr. Janet Travell was President John F. Kennedy's personal physician who treated his chronic back problems. Dr. Travell became widely known in 1961 when she became the first woman to be personal physician to a President. The appointment caused a minor stir, especially in the military, which had been providing medical care to Presidents, their spouses, and their children since the 1920s. The President had been relying on her since 1955 when she saw the Senator from Massachusetts after the second operation on his back. Kennedy had been injured in World War II when the PT boat he commanded was sunk, and his back caused him pain for the rest of his life. <BR><BR>The assassination of JFK has always been the subject of several conspiracy theories with Government findings often conflicting. The 1964 findings of the Warren Commission, the members of which were handpicked by Lyndon B. Johnson, a week after Kennedy had been killed and LBJ had succeeded to the office, were that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and had fired the fatal shots from the Texas School Book Depository. The Commission also stated that it found no evidence to link either Oswald or Jack Ruby (the nightclub owner charged with shooting Oswald two days after JFK's death) to any conspiracy, foreign or domestic. This is the "lone gunman" theory. In 1976, the U.S. House of Representatives established the House Select Committee on Assassinations, and its report, issued in 1979, came to numerous conclusions that were strikingly different from those of the Warren Commission, the most important of which was that Kennedy's assassination was likely the result of a conspiracy and that shots were fired from more than one location. The HSCA concluded that one shot was fired from the now-legendary "grassy knoll," which missed Kennedy and his limo altogether, but which supports a multiple-gunmen theory. The HSCA findings hinted at the involvement of organized crime. The theories included the CIA, Castro, and organized crime families. The Assassination Records Review Board, established by Congress in 1992, was given "the mandate and the authority to identify, secure, and make available all records related to the assassination of President Kennedy." Thousands of pieces of information and evidence have since been made available through the ARRB, and the Act empowering it "requires that all assassination records must be opened by 2017," although the following provision is made: "with the exception of records certified for continued postponement by the President." <BR><BR>This controversial archive includes: <BR><B>A letter from Andy Purdy</B></I> dated August 2, 1977 requesting the President's pre-assassination x-rays. The letter written on Select Committee of Assassinations letterhead reads in full, "Dear Dr. Travell: The Select Committee on Assassinations would appreciate any assistance you could give us in locating pre-assassination x-rays of the late President John F. Kennedy. Your consideration of this matter would be appreciated." Could the request for such records be used to support the idea that it was Kennedy's back brace that killed him? Kennedy often wore a back brace and on the day he was shot, he was wearing a brace that consisted of a canvas brace with metal stays, together with an Ace bandage with extra padding. The brace kept Kennedy's posture erect even after Oswald's first bullet went through his neck. Had he been able to fall forward after this first bullet hit, the second, fatal bullet may have missed him. <BR><B>A memo from Travell,</B></I> entered into the file, written just weeks after the assassination is signed by Travell and reads, "December 6, 1963, MEMORANDUM FOR THE FILE The Attorney General was in my office, and said that he had not received my confidential medical file on the late President Kennedy which was sent by messenger to Mr. Kenneth O'Donnell's home on November 29. I am mailing the Attorney General today the list of these envelopes." <BR><B>One page scribbled notes by Travell</B></I> indicating a log to contact Tim Wray, Chief Analyst for Military Records of the Assassination Records Review Board. Travell writes, "April 4, 1996 4:20 p.m. I called. Mr. Jim Wray - Secy said: "he's out of the office until Monday. I left a message on his answering machine letter received today. I have no records on assassination -I was not there. No, I can't give an interview.'" An envelope from the Assassination Records Review Board postmarked April 3, 1996. Travell wrote the number for Executive Director, David G. Marwell on the front. <BR><B>More notes dated Aug. 4, 1977</B></I> with regard to Donald Andy Purdy, who served as Special Counsel to the House Ethics Committee and as Senior Staff Counsel to the House Select Committee on Assassinations in their investigation of the assassination of President Kennedy. Travell writes, "Dr. Wade's X-rays given to me. All were left there in hands of Secret Service." Also notes to call Dr. Anne M. Belcher and another note dated Aug. 8, 1977 regarding another call to Purdy. "I called back - no answer 2:30 p.m." <BR><B>An original draft of a poem</B></I> written by Dr. Travell with handwritten edits titled, "He Had a Rendezvous" dated Nov. 22, 1963. Reads, "He had a rendezvous with greatness here. A flaming meteor, he came to light. The deep abysses of this mortal sphere, illuminate men's minds and souls to fight. Life's vices: bigotry, greed, malice, fear. In his noontime of the year. He had a rendezvous with life to steer. The ship of earth to wondrous ports of brave. New beauty, music, hope that children dear. May live with love immortal past the grave. Safe in harbors archedly rainbows tier on tier. In his noontime of the year. He had a rendezvous with duty clear, Courage instilled by mother, father proud. To see his star ascend, now on his bier. Hs flag becomes a shroud. Their heads are bowed, their knees are bent on ground grown hard and sere. In the fulltime of their year. He had a rendezvous with death to hear. The bells of heaven chime, 'peace, rest in peace.' Again a star in space far yet so near. Eternal light, he guides mankind's release From self: the trust with death men will revere. In the noontime of this sphere."<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Books & Catalogs (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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