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Jack Ruby's address book with Dallas Police Department evidence tag
Jack Ruby's address book with Dallas Police Department evidence tag

Jack Ruby's address book with Dallas Police Department evidence tag

Object numberL2017.1.8
Datecirca 1955
ClassificationsArtifacts
ObjectArtifact
Credit LineLoaned Courtesy the Dallas County District Attorney's Office/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumPaper, Metal
Dimensionswith tag: 14 1/4 × 6 1/2 × 1 1/4 in. (36.2 × 16.5 × 3.2 cm)
Other (address book only): 8 5/8 × 6 1/2 × 1 1/4 in. (21.9 × 16.5 × 3.2 cm)
Collections
DescriptionSmall black address book originally owned by Jack Ruby, with evidence tag from Dallas Police Department still attached. The address book has a thick, textured-paper cover with metal ring binding on the inside. Binding has sixteen metal rings. Inside the address book there are address dividers from "A" to "YZ" that are made of yellow paper with thick black paper tabs that are printed with gilded letters. Behind each alphabetical tab are 5" x 2.5" hole-punched lined address pages that have typed and handwritten addresses, contact information, occupations and other notes about various individuals including musicians, "exotic" dancers and vendors. The evidence tag is attached at the top of the address book by a twisted, rusted wire. The tag has a pre-printed form in faded black ink that is filled in with information handwritten in blue ink. The text on the tag notes that DPD collected it on 11-24-63, and identifies the two Dallas Police Department patrolmen involved: Eugene A. Wilkerson and Albert G. Bliss. This object was originally part of the evidence collected by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and specifically prosecutors Henry Wade and Bill Alexander during the investigation leading up to the Jack Ruby trial for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Curatorial Commentary
This is one of several Jack Ruby address books found by law enforcement after the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald. According to the evidence tag, this particular address book was found "behind bus sta. 1500 Jackson." This bus station was approximately half a mile from Dallas police headquarters where Ruby shot Oswald on November 24, 1963. A different, hardbound red leather address book was found on Ruby's person at the time of his arrest. Considered Ruby's personal property, that red leather address book was returned--along with Ruby's hat, shoes, gun, watch, and other belongings--to the Ruby estate following Ruby's death in 1967. Brother Earl Ruby later sold that address book at auction. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
This item, along with materials from the DA's Ruby file (which is on loan to the Museum) and from the Museum's permanent collection, briefly appeared in a temporary display on the Museum's seventh floor in 2017. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections