On July 13, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum announced the arrival of previously missing documents, artifacts, and other historical material from the presidency of John F. Kennedy. These items were recovered by the National Archives and Records Administration, on behalf of the Kennedy Presidential Library, from the estate of Robert L. White. Kennedy Presidential Library archival and curatorial staff spent several years working with the National Archives general counsel to obtain their return.
Robert White obtained the historical material belonging to the American people from Mrs. Evelyn Lincoln, President Kennedy’s secretary, who improperly removed and then sold or gave away the material. Mrs. Lincoln was entrusted with the responsibility of safekeeping President Kennedy’s personal effects, historical items and writings. Rather than turning over all of these materials to President Kennedy’s family and to the National Archives, Mrs. Lincoln kept a large number of these items and eventually gave or sold them to Mr. White.
These priceless items include thousands of pages of documents and artifacts from John F. Kennedy’s career as a public servant. Among the items recovered from Mr. White’s estate are signing pens used by President Kennedy to sign Public Laws, Executive Orders and International Treaties; a piece of wood originally from the floor of the U.S. Senate that was incorporated into the platform for the 1961 inaugural ceremony; letters, notes, and schedules from President Kennedy and his staff documenting the official business of the White House including matters of National Security, as well as important files from his years as a U.S. Senator.
Also recovered by NARA in a separate agreement reached last fall is a map of Cuba used and annotated by President Kennedy when he was first briefed by the CIA on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Mr. White obtained the map from Mrs. Lincoln and subsequently sold it. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on behalf of the National Archives and secured its return last fall.
“I’d like to congratulate our archival and curatorial staff who worked so hard to get [these items] back for the American people, along with the Archives General Counsel. Together, we have retrieved these treasures for posterity, and we hope people will come see them at the Kennedy Library and Museum in the future,” said Deborah Leff, Director of the Kennedy Presidential Library.
Many of the documents that were recovered by the National Archives are now available to researchers at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. The Library’s Research Room is open 8:30 am – 4:30 pm each weekday, and is closed on weekends and Federal Holidays.