Image of Maria Anagonstou at Love Field holding drawings of the Kennedys

Maria Anagnostou of Greece spent several months in Dallas in 1963, staying at the home of Mr. and Mrs. N. H. Strattin (Mrs. Strattin was a distant cousin). When Maria went to see President and Mrs. Kennedy at Dallas Love Field on November 22, 1963, she brought with her charcoal drawings of the couple that Maria's brother, Evangelista, had created when Jackie Kennedy visited Greece in October 1963. A brief news story about Maria, the drawings and her hopes of seeing President and Mrs. Kennedy ("Problems of Maria All Greek") was published in the Dallas Times Herald on November 20, 1963, two days before the assassination. Although it was a minor human-interest story, it ended up being included in Warren Commission Exhibit 1377 simply because the story ran alongside a more significant article by reporter Keith Shelton about security preparations for the president's visit ("Police Chief Puts Dallas on Notice.") Interestingly, Maria's Dallas host, Mrs. Strattin, also had a daughter named Maria. Maria Strattin was named Miss Dallas 1962. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator