50 years later, Jackie Kennedy's pink suit locked away from view
(CNN) -- Jacqueline
Kennedy was still wearing the blood-stained watermelon pink suit when she got
to the White House in the early-morning hours after her husband was shot dead.
She had
refused to take it off at Parkland Hospital in Dallas or on the flight back to
Washington with the body of her husband.
Once at
the White House, her personal maid put the suit in a bag so Mrs. Kennedy
wouldn't have to look at it.
In the
words of President John F. Kennedy, she looked "smashing" in the
suit, which may be why the President asked Jackie to wear the now-famous outfit
to Dallas on November 22, 1963.
She was
known for her fashion sense. Museums have hosted collections of her gowns, hats
and jewelry.
In Fort
Worth on the morning of November 22, the President even joked about his wife's
style.
"Two
years ago, I introduced myself in Paris by saying that I was the man who had
accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to Paris. I am getting somewhat that same sensation as
I travel around Texas. Nobody wonders what Lyndon (Johnson) and I wear," Kennedy
quipped.
Hours
later, Jackie Kennedy was trying to crawl out of the presidential limo, her
suit spattered with her husband's blood.
When
aides suggested she change her clothes, she refused.
"Her
remark, I think she made it more than once is, 'No, I'm going to leave these
clothes on. I want them to see what they have done,' " author Philip
Shenon said.
Hours
later, Kennedy continued to wear the suit during the emergency swearing in of
Johnson as President.
"That
whole scene is obviously just surreal," Shenon said. "She arrives in
the cabin in Air Force One in these clothes, covered with the President's
blood, and she's expected to stand there and witness the swearing in of her
husband's successor."
The suit
today is in the National Archives building in Maryland.
It came
in a box, along with a handwritten note from Jackie Kennedy's mother on her
personal stationery. It read simply: "Jackie's suit and bag - worn
November 22nd, 1963."
The suit
was never cleaned.
The
public hasn't seen the suit since the assassination and won't for another 90
years.
In 2003,
nine years after her mother's death, Caroline Kennedy gave the suit as a gift
to the people of the United States with the understanding that it would not be
put on display until 2103.
And even
then, the Kennedy family will have to be consulted before any attempt is made
to display it. They want to avoid sensationalizing the horrible act.
Also
hidden from view in the new archives building in Maryland: the blue blouse
Jackie Kennedy wore beneath the pink suit, her stockings, blue shoes and blue
purse.
What they
don't have is the first lady's iconic pink pillbox hat.
"The
hat is a mystery," said Shenon, who wrote "A Cruel and Shocking
Act."
"The
hat apparently goes to the Secret Service initially and the Secret Service
turns it over to Mrs. Kennedy's private secretary, and then it disappears. It
has not been seen since."
The
archive has the suit stored in a windowless vault, in an acid free container,
where the air is changed three times an hour to properly maintain the wool and
cloth.
It is
kept at a temperature of 65 to 68 degrees, which is best for the fabric.
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