Printed TLS signed “Jack,” in black ink, one page, 8.5 x 11, Harvard Class of 1940 letterhead, December 27, 1945. In part: “As the Class Secretary, Pete Pratt, is entangled with the U.S. Army, he has asked me to write you about the Class Report. The Class Report is ordinarily published at the time of our First Reunion, in our case, 1943. Due to circumstances beyond any of our controls, we have been unable to hold any semblance of a reunion. Now, however, our time has come and in June of this year we shall meet in Cambridge. You will be informed of that later…There is, as usual, the question of money. Our Class Fund has to its credit about $1300, invested in war bonds which our canny Treasurer, Donald MacDonald Dickinson Thurber, thinks is the best buy since Ponzi. McThurber, who we understand votes Republican in the Michigan elections, feels we should hold them until maturity. There are those who say that the money should be used to buy real estate in Nevada suitable for building a large underground cellar capable of holding 972 men of Harvard. That will be voted on in June.” A uniform shade of mild toning, some light creases to bottom portion, and two tack holes to top edge, otherwise fine condition. This rare early Kennedy signature is reproduced as #8 in Part I: Authentic Signatures in Andreas Wiemer’s monograph John F. Kennedy autograph study—early signatures. By this time, Kennedy had completed his military service and was employed as a special correspondent for Hearst Publications, arranged by Kennedy’s father through William Randolph Hearst, keeping his name in the public eye. Not very long after this letter came out, Kennedy would throw his hat in the ring for his first campaign for the Democratic 11th congressional district in Massachusetts. RR Auction COA.
