The famous pink wool suit donned by first lady Jackie Kennedy the day her husband was assassinated will not be viewed by the public until at least 2103.
President John F. Kennedy, 46, was gunned down in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963, as he rode in a motorcade with Texas Gov. John Connally, his wife Nellie, and the first lady. Kennedy was hit with rifle shots in the neck and head and was declared dead a short time later at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Jackie Kennedy, who had been wearing the pink suit since early in the day, was covered in her husband’s blood.
The suit, custom-made for Kennedy by New York shop Chez Ninon as a line-for-line copy of the iconic Chanel suit, became famous the day of JFK’s assassination because the first lady was photographed first arriving and smiling broadly while greeting supporters, then in shock after the death of her husband, and finally standing alongside then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson as he was sworn into office as the president.
Kennedy dismissed suggestions for her to change throughout the day, saying, “Let them see what they’ve done.” She kept the suit on until arriving back at the White House, where it was bagged up for preservation. It has never been cleaned.
The suit was donated to the National Archives by the Kennedys’ only living child, Caroline, in 2003 with the request that it not be displayed because it could “dishonor the memory” of her parents. Caroline, 61, also said she did not want the suit to be a reminder of the tragic death of her father or to “cause any grief or suffering to members” of the family.
Jackie Kennedy, who later married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, died in 2004 at age 64. Her son, John F. Kennedy, Jr., died at age 38 along with his wife and sister-in-law when a small plane he was piloting crashed off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
The National Archives confirmed that the suit is being held from public view and is stored in a climate-controlled, acid-free environment to preserve the garment as long as possible. The National Archives agreed to keep the suit from public view until 2103, at which time members of the Kennedy family could choose to display it or keep it hidden.
