The date was June 20, 1959. John F. Kennedy, then a United States senator from Massachusetts, was campaigning across the country for the 1960 Democratic nomination for president. Campaigning with him was his wife, Jacqueline.

Among the attendees at a fundraising dinner at the Olympic Hotel in Seattle was a young Democratic activist, who asked for—and got—both Jack and Jackie to autograph the dinner program for him.

1959 fundraising program for Senator John Kennedy

Many years later, the man passed away, and the dinner program autographed by the future president and his wife was inherited by his son, Dennis, who now lives with his family in Denver.

This week, nearly 50 years after that fundraising dinner in Seattle, Dennis brought the autographed program to the WorthPoint exhibit at the American Presidential Experience and asked Worthologist Tom Carrier to give him a sense of its value. Carrier, who once worked in the White House and has a passion for and an expertise in White House memorabilia, examined the program and estimated its value at $1,000 to $1,500.

Tom Carrier visiting with Dennis and his J.F.K. program

“Dennis doesn’t want to sell the program—not yet, anyway,” Carrier says. “His father passed away several years ago, and the program is a tangible connection to his late dad and to the Kennedy family. But Dennis says he’ll keep in touch with WorthPoint just in case he changes his mind.”

Steve Johnson, WorthPoint

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 31st, 2008 at 6:04 pm and is filed under Articles, Blog Entry, Books, Paper and Magazines, Fraternal, Political, Organizations, Paper Ephemera, Political. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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