Large swatch of black cambric, 11.75″ x 12.25″, which was leftover material used to drape the East Room of the White House after the assassination of President Kennedy. Includes a detailed 1982 letter of provenance on White House letterhead from White House staff members Larry and Norma Arata, addressed to noted collector Raleigh DeGeer Amyx, which reads, in part: “It is with sadness I present to you some of the black cambric which was left over from the material used in the East Room immediately following the Assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, on November 22, 1963. Larry Arata had been brought to the White House two years earlier at the personal request of the First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, to participate in the total restoration and upholstering of each piece of White House furniture...
When the Assassination occurred Mrs. Kennedy had made almost immediate contact with the White House and in a kind, firm and controlled manner she requested that the exterior and interior of the White House be decorated as closely as possible to the way it was when President Lincoln lay in state in the East Room in 1865. As I recall, Mrs. Kennedy suggested we might find such a reference in the White House Library. My husband, Larry and I arrived at the White House before 8:00 pm on November 22, 1963. We knew immediately that we had only 100 yards of black cambric in the White House. This was not nearly enough. My husband, Larry, made the determination of what kind of black material should be used. It had to be dark and thin so that it could be draped easily. We telephoned upholsters until we found one who had enough additional black cambric.
Larry and I then began our work. We used a copy of an 1865 engraving of the East Room. We started working at 8:00 pm on November 22, 1963. We draped the black cambric over the fireplaces, drapes, chandeliers, mantel pieces, windows, the White House exterior and the area in which our beloved President would lay in state. We worked all night and up until 4:30 am on November 23, 1963. At that moment a dramatic event took place. Larry and I were still working in the East Room. The First Lady entered the room with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, by her side. There were no more than a dozen people in the East Room as the President's body arrived. The Priest also came in. When I saw the First Lady she was still wearing her pink skirt with blood stains on it. Larry and I did not approach her. We felt it would have been inappropriate. We wanted to spare her the confrontation of two more grieving friends at this almost unbearable moment. Mrs. Kennedy left shortly after this with Robert Kennedy. He slept in the Lincoln Bedroom. She slept in the President's bed. At 10:00 am the same morning she returned to the East Room as we had prepared it for her for a ten o'clock Mass. The rest is history. It is all so sad.” At a later date, Amyx sold this cambric swatch, as well as a large piece of Kennedy limousine leather, in 1982. In fine condition. Accompanied by a magazine photo of Kennedy's casket being placed in the East Room of the White House.
