JFK Memorabilia Controversy

I’m sure you’ve all heard the news that a transcript concerning John F. Kennedy’s assassination was recently discovered among boxes of memorabilia. Apparently, all the items were in an old safe in the county courthouse in Dallas. Some articles call the boxes lost, some call them hidden. Personally, I think they were lost. It doesn’t make sense to me that all of the items would be hidden. Hiding or even destroying a transcript would have been so much easier than hiding all of these items.

Conspiracy theorists are salivating over the transcript, which seems to be a conversation between Oswald and Ruby where they discuss killing President Kennedy. The validity of the document has not been verified, from what I’ve read it seems a bit far-fetched.

I don’t really see what the big fuss is about the transcript. I think people have pretty much agreed to disagree about JFK’s killer(s) years ago. What I’m excited about is the rest of the memorabilia. Letters to and from Henry Wade, the prosecutor in Ruby’s trial, letters to Ruby, a gun holster and clothing that belonged to Ruby and Oswald. These are the real treasures locked in that safe.

These aren’t items you will find in an antique price guide. I’d even venture to say that these antiques prices can hardly be determined at all. They are pieces of our Nation’s history, a particularly dark portion of history, but still our history. How can you really appraise antiques that are so important? I don’t envy the person who has that job.
I’m interested to see what they will end up doing with the memorabilia. They could put it directly into a museum, or it could end up at auction. I think things like these belong in a museum where everyone can see them. Do you think private collectors should have a chance at buying them?

Although this discovery stirs up many feelings among people, we should all try to focus on what he had to say instead of who killed him and why. Check out his inaugural address below.