Warren Commission exhibit #56 - photocopied letters written by Lee Harvey Oswald

Object number2017.055.0023

Date1962 - 1964

ClassificationsDocuments

Author Lee Harvey Oswald

Creator Warren Commission

ObjectLetter

Credit LineAdele Lippard Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumPaper

Dimensionsletters: 10 1/2 × 8 in. (26.7 × 20.3 cm)
card: 3 × 5 in. (7.6 × 12.7 cm)

Terms

Collections

DescriptionCopy of a set of letters Lee Harvey Oswald wrote in 1962 and 1963 about his involvement with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans. This set of copies was considered Exhibit #56 in the Warren Commission's investigation in 1964. The original letters were written by Oswald between June 10,1962 and late October 1963; the letters were typed and not handwritten. The first five letters are addressed to various recipients all while Oswald was living in New Orleans, Louisiana; he includes his return address as "P.O. Box 30061". The last letter was written once Oswald was in Dallas, and his return address on that letter is "P.O. Box 6225". The first letter was sent to the publication The Worker on June 10, 1962. The second letter is addressed to a Mr. Arnold Johnson in New York City, and was sent on August 13, 1963. The third letter is addressed to "Comrades" and was sent to the Central Committee, Communist Party, U.S.A. on August 28, 1963. The fourth letter is addressed to "Mr. Best" at The Worker and was sent on August 31 - no year is included with the date, but it can be assumed it was sent in 1963 based on the context of the other letters. The fifth letter is addressed to the "Communist Party" in New York City on September 1, 1963; Oswald addressed it "Dear Sirs". The sixth letter was sent to "Mr. A. Johnston [sic] \ c/o Worker", and he addressed the letter "Dear Mr. Johnson"; this letter has no date but was written after October 25th based on the content of the letter. The content of the letters focuses on Oswald's formation of a chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans. He requests materials for his new chapter from The Worker and from the Communist Party, U.S.A. In the September 1st letter he requests the names of Communist Party contacts in the "Baltimore-Washington area" where he intends to relocate in October. By the time he writes the last letter in late October, Oswald has settled in Dallas and is writing about an ACLU meeting he attended at SMU and how he can help make the ACLU more progressive in Dallas if that's what the Party wants.

Curatorial Commentary

While living in New Orleans, Lee Harvey Oswald wrote a letter dated May 26, 1963, to the national headquarters of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New York City. He requested formal membership in the organization and, expressing interest in establishing a New Orleans chapter of FPCC, asked for a charter as well as a picture of Fidel Castro "suitable for framing." Three days later, Vincent Lee of FPCC sent Oswald a membership card, dated May 28, 1963. The accompanying letter, however, expressed little interest in a New Orleans chapter and stressed that a charter would only be issued if the national committee deemed it reasonable. Oswald did not even wait for Lee's reply to arrive. He quickly established his own New Orleans chapter of FPCC, billing himself as secretary-President. He ordered 1,000 "Hands Off Cuba" handbills which he began to distribute on the streets. No one ever joined the New Orleans chapter of FPCC, but - as noted in this letter - Oswald did provide honorary membership cards to two senior members of the American Communist Party, Gus Hall and Benjamin Davis. - Stephen Fagin, Curator