/internal/media/dispatcher/50174/fullLetter of authenticity for flag flown over U.S. Senate during mourning period12/23/19638 1/2 × 6 3/8 in. (21.6 × 16.2 cm)PaperThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection1998.043.0001.00010One letter on non-regulation size off-white paper from Joseph C. Duke, Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. Senate stating the authenticity and significance of the American flag flown over the U.S. Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol during the official mourning period for President John F. Kennedy.
The letter text is printed and typed in dark blue or navy ink. The Great Seal of the United States is impressed into the paper in the upper left corner. The letter is signed by Mr. Duke in a dark gray ink beneath the typed text near the lower right corner of the page.
The letter is printed on stationery that has the following text printed in all caps centered at the top of the page:
"Joseph C. Duke
Sergeant at Arms
United States Senate"
The date of the letter is center aligned and typed beneath the stationery text - "December 23, 1963".
The text of the letter is left aligned and typed as two paragraphs following an opening greeting:
"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
[indented] This is to certify that this flag was
flown over the Senate Wing of the United States
Capitol from the seventh of November until the
twenty-second of December, Nineteen Hundred
and Sixty-three.
[indented] Upon the assassination of President
John Fitzgerald Kennedy on the twenty-second of
November, this flag was lowered over the United
States Senate and continued to fly at half staff
during the official thirty-day period of mourning
ending the twenty-second of December."
Mr. Duke's signature appears below this typed text.
The texture of the impressed seal is visible and tangible on the reverse of the paper.
Letter is in good condition. Some minimal creasing in paper from being handled. Texture of typed letters visible and tangible through to reverse. (JM 07/31/2017)Documents6405716.192532385121.590000000011282LetterLetter of authenticity for the American flag flown over the U.S. Senate Building during the official month of mourning for President Kennedy, signed by Joseph C. Duke, Sergeant at Arms, United States Senate.
The letter text is printed and typed in dark blue ink. The Great Seal of the United States is impressed into the paper in the upper left corner.
The text of the letter is as follows:
"Joseph C. Duke
Sergeant at Arms
United States Senate
December 23, 1963
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
This is to certify that this flag was flown over the Senate Wing of the United States Capitol from the seventh of November until the twenty-second of December, Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-three.
Upon the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy on the twenty-second of November, this flag was lowered over the United States Senate and continued to fly at half-staff during the official thirty-day period of mourning ending the twenty-second of December."
Mr. Duke's signature appears below this typed text.
[See record 1998.043.0001.0003 for the flag that accompanies this letter of authenticity.]LettersFlagMourningLetterheadU.S. SenateWashington, D.C.Included in the Museum's temporary exhibit, "Mourning a President," about the funeral and mourning rites for President John F. Kennedy, this item will be on display on the Museum's seventh floor from November 17, 2017 to February 19, 2018. -- Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections