/internal/media/dispatcher/50549/fullJack Ruby's copy of the "Welcome Mr. Kennedy" anti-Kennedy ad11/22/196322 11/16 × 16 7/16 in. (57.6 × 41.8 cm)NewsprintLoaned Courtesy the Dallas County District Attorney's Office/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey PlazaL2017.1.1000One full-page newspaper clipping from The Dallas Morning News dated November 22, 1963 of a full-page political advertisement beginning, "Welcome Mr. Kennedy To Dallas..." that was funded by Bernard Weissman, chairman of The American Fact-Finding Committee. This clipping was one of the pieces of evidence taken from Jack Ruby's car by the Dallas Police Department.
The page is from Section 1, Page 14 of the paper, and has a wide black border near the edge of the entire page with "Welcome Mr. Kennedy \ To Dallas..." in large, bolded, black all caps text printed across the top two lines of the page. Near the bottom of the advertisement within the border area is the text:
"The American Fact-Finding Committee
'An unaffiliated and non-partisan group of citizens who wish truth'
Bernard Weissman,
Chairman
P.O. Box 1792 -- Dallas 21, Texas
(Political Advertisement paid for by Bernard Weissman) [printed in miniscule text directly above bottom border.]"
In the advertisement, there are four points about Dallas each beginning "... A CITY", stating the city's independence from "Liberal" ideas and President Kennedy's "philosophy and policies". A paragraph with the following text is next in the advertisement:
"MR. KENNEDY, despite contentions on the part of your administration, the State Department, the Mayor
of Dallas, the Dallas City Council, and members of your party, we free-thinking and America-thinking citizens of Dallas
still have, through a Constitution largely ignored by you, the right to address our grievances, to question you, to dis-
agree with you, and to criticize you.
In asserting this constitutional right, we wish to ask you publicly the following questions -- indeed, questions of paramount
importance and interest to all free peoples everywhere -- which we trust you will answer ... in public, without sophistry.
These questions are:"
There are twelve "Why" questions directed at President Kennedy, each beginning with bolded and underlined text "WHY". Then the following sentence concludes the advertisement:
"MR. KENNEDY, as citizens of these United States of America, we DEMAND answers to these questions, and we want
them NOW."
The page has initials handwritten in blue ink circled in the lower right corner below the border. This reflects a practice by the Dallas Police Department of initialing pieces of evidence collected during investigations.
Reverse has commercial advertisements printed in black for various products including hair spray, Anacin, Maalox, Old Spice, and shampoo.
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.
Page has one jagged torn edge on proper right side. Horizontal and vertical fold lines throughout paper, small holes where corners of folds were; many creases in other places of paper. Color transfer of red ink in middle of page on front. Newsprint has yellowed. (JM 09/08/2017)Newspapers & Magazines6548141.751333502757.626365252750715Clipping0E-10Jack Ruby's copy of the full-page ad titled "Welcome Mr. Kennedy" from the Dallas Morning News dated Friday, November 22, 1963, placed by the American Fact-Finding Committee, Bernard Weissman, Chairman. Ruby's copy of the ad was found in his car at the time of his arrest for shooting Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963.
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.Jack Ruby trialDA's Ruby fileNewspapersRuby, JackWeissman, BernardDallas County District Attorney's OfficeThe Dallas Morning NewsAmerican Fact-Finding CommitteeDallasThis 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 CollectionsThis particular copy of the "Welcome Mr. Kennedy" ad is important because it belonged to Jack Ruby and was found in his car after he was arrested for shooting Oswald. Some have wondered if the fact that he kept the ad was an indication of Ruby's mental state after the assassination. The Museum also has a copy of this ad in its collection. See record 2004.058.0017 for more information. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of CollectionsThis infamous full-page advertisement was signed by the American Fact-Finding Committee, chaired by Bernard Weissman. In reality, there was no organization called the American Fact-Finding Committee, though Bernard Weissman and his associates did write the content of this ad, which was paid for by several Dallas-area conservative businessmen. Weissman at the time was part of a small "secret" group called Conservatism USA, whose main objective was to infiltrate other right-wing organizations and ultimately bring all of those organizations under one umbrella organization (that Weissman and his other young associates would lead). Conservatism USA broke up almost immediately after the assassination.
Jack Ruby may have been particularly disturbed by this advertisement since Weissman is a Jewish name. Weissman recognized (and relished) the potential controversy that a Jewish name on an ultra-conservative, anti-Kennedy advertisement would create. "I reveled in that kind of stuff," said Weissman in his oral history, recorded with the Museum in 2016. Interestingly, considering the anti-Semitism prominent in ultraconservative organizations at that time, one of Weissman's friends had earlier suggested that he change his name. Weissman refused and considered this ad a great opportunity to promote himself as a political activist. Naturally, he instantly regretted using his name on the ad when the assassination occurred on the same day it appeared in The Dallas Morning News. - Stephen Fagin, Curator