Last Known John F. Kennedy Autograph Sold for $38,837 at Auction

Autograph was Given ToTexas Hotel Maid Jan White by President Kennedy Hours Before His Death

Sometimes, a quick signature on an item as common as a newspaper can suddenly become historically important. Case-in-point: a signed edition of the "Dallas Morning News" from November 22, 1963, the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Almost 50 years after the death of JFK, that particular newspaper was auctioned for nearly $39,000.

A quick meeting between Jan White and President Kennedy

In the middle of a multi-city, political tour of Texas, President Kennedy was staying with his wife Jackie at the Texas Hotel in Forth Worth. On the morning of November 22, 1963, President Kennedy gave a personalized autograph to Jan White, a maid working at the Texas Hotel. Hours after signing what is believed to be his last official autograph, bullets struck President Kennedy's motorcade, ending his life.

Forty-six years after the untimely death of John F. Kennedy, Joseph Maddalena, a collector of historic signatures, purchased Jan White's Kennedy autograph for $38,837. Maddalena purchased the autograph, which was sold matted and framed with a picture of John F. Kennedy and a plaque outlining the signature's history.

Joseph Maddalena also in Guinness Book of World Records for Lincoln Autograph

Maddalena, who is President of Profiles in History, also earned a listing in the Guinness Book of World Records for another famous Presidential purchase. On December 5, 1991, Maddalena paid a record $748,000 for a letter written by Abraham Lincoln on January 8, 1963. The letter, written by President Lincoln to General John Alexander McClernand of the Union Army, contains references to the Emancipation Proclamation, the series of Executive Orders that marked the beginning of the end of slavery.

William Shakespeare's autograph is highly coveted