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Letter with enclosures sent to Reverend William A. Holmes by Margaret Hamilton
Letter with enclosures sent to Reverend William A. Holmes by Margaret Hamilton

Letter with enclosures sent to Reverend William A. Holmes by Margaret Hamilton

Object number2007.016.0137
Date11/30/1963
ClassificationsDocuments
ObjectLetter
Credit LineWilliam A. and Nancy M. Holmes Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumPaper
Dimensions7 x 5 3/8 in. (17.8 x 13.7 cm)
Collections
DescriptionTwo-page letter, sermon and newspaper clipping sent to Reverend William A. Holmes of Northaven Methodist Church from Mrs. Margaret Hamilton of Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Letter is handwritten in blue ink on pale blue stationery and reads as follows: "Mrs Margaret Hamilton, West End Cottages, Garscube Estate, Bearsden. Dunbartonshire. Scotland. 30th November 1963. Dear Sir, The enclosed paper cutting from a recent daily paper is the reason for my writing this letter to you. We were deeply shocked at the tragic death of your beloved President: John F. Kennedy, but doubly shocked and disgusted when I read the enclosed article about the behaviour of some pupils of a wealthy school. If only the reading of the enclosed leaflet could be shown to the parents of those same children. The leaflet was sent to me by my brother & sisters who live at Dunoon, (my original home town) on the Firth of Clyde, where many American families live, because of the Polaris base nearby. My praise goes to you Mr. Holmes, also the school teachers, who stood up and let it be know , "That hatred should NOT be allowed to breed." If the leaflet and my letter can do some good, then the writing of it has been worth while. I remain, Yours faithfully, (Mrs.) M. Hamilton. P.S. Could you return Mr Kennedy's picture, if possible." ------- Two sided document features a drawing of the Virgin Mary on the front, along with the heading "Our Lady's and St. Mun's." The reverse side has a photograph of John F. Kennedy, as well as a short sermon titled "The Death of a Friend" that reads as follows: "A cross - a very heavy cross - has been laid not only upon our American friends, but also upon us and upon the world at large. A great light has been extinguished: a young woman has lost a loving husband and two children, a fond father; a nation has lost a leader and Holy Mother Church on earth, a devoted and faithful son; we have lost a friend. Our sympathy, as Monsignor has assured Commodore Bell, goes out to the American people, and especially to Mrs. Kennedy and to her family. Sympathy - meaning "suffering with" - is the correct word, for we do suffer and feel great pain under this heavy cross. Many adjectives will be used to describe John Kennedy's qualities, many titles attributed to him. But perhaps his greatest title is that he was a Christian. That is why, in our sorrow and - shall we say? - in our bitterness, we must, as a tribute to the memory of a great Christian, include in our prayers, those who were responsible for this crime. For Christ it was who said: 'Father, forgive them!'" ------ Newspaper clipping is from the Scottish Daily Express, dated Thursday, November 28, 1963. Article is titled: "This is Texas: Dallas Wednesday" and reads as follows: "Dallas, shaken by the dreadful events of the last few days, has been rocked again by a chain reaction of threats and violence which underline the poison that seems to run in the mainstream of life here. A British Baptist minister, the Rev. William Holmes, preached a sermon on Sunday pleading that hatred should not be allowed to infect the children of Dallas. He made his plea, he said, because he knew that when the President was killed pupils in some of the wealthy school districts cheered and shouted with glee at the news. He repeated his sermon on television, and backed it with facts, saying he was given information by several schoolteachers. He also named the schools. 'The children cannot be blamed. They have been infected by the hatred implicit in their parents, and they are merely mirroring the extreme views of the adults.' Headmasters of the schools denounced Holmes, denied his story, and offered an explanation - 'the children had not been told the President was assassinated but merely that school was cancelled for the day.' Later, Joanna Morgan, a 22-year-old teacher, called the television station and said: 'The principals are not telling the truth.' Through the night, anonymous callers threatened to kill both Holmes and Miss Morgan, and this morning both were placed under a police guard at a secret address - 'for their own protection.'" ------- Envelope is hand-addressed to: "The Rev. William Holmes, Dallas, Texas. U.S.A." Envelope is postmarked: "BEARSDEN, GLASGOW / 6-PM / 30 NOV 1963" and stamped with a Red Cross Centenary Congress stamp. Envelope has several other markings, including one that reads "AIRMAIL" in blue ink, and another that reads "copy of sermon return picture" in red ink and pencil.
Curatorial Commentary

When I first interviewed Rev. Holmes in March 2007, he was surprised to hear that there was still historical interest in his controversial sermon from the weekend of the Kennedy assassination. He and his wife soon decided to donate to the Museum the collection of more than 450 letters and cards that they received from around the world after excerpts of the sermon were broadcast on CBS.

Although several letters were critical of Holmes, the vast majority supported his beliefs as expressed in the sermon. Holmes was most proud of the letter he received from Christian philosopher Paul Tillich (1886-1965), while his children were thrilled with the letter from actor Hugh Brannum (1910-87), who played "Mr. Green Jeans" on the children's program "Captain Kangaroo." - Stephen Fagin, Associate Curator