Date: November 1963 Creator: Abbie Rowe Medium: Photograph
Although the columns of the North Portico were not wrapped with black crape as they were during the mourning periods for nineteenth-century presidents, the decorating of the North Door with black cloth after President Kennedy’s death recalled those solemn traditions. The cloth is possibly black cambric—a lightweight, closely-woven cotton or linen fabric—that White House Upholsterer Larry Arata already had in stock.
National Archives and Records Administration
1
of
6
Pinch to zoom
President Kennedy Lying in State
Date: November 23, 1963 Creator: Bates Littlehales Medium: Photograph
The draping of the East Room and parlors in mourning was reinstated. Mirrors, mantels, chandeliers, and doorways all featured swaths of black fabric. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy requested staff use the 1868 Harper’s Weekly woodcut engraving that depicted the East Room during President Lincoln’s funeral as a guide.
White House Historical Association
2
of
6
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Family at John F. Kennedy’s Funeral
Date: November 24, 1963 Creator: Unknown Medium: Film
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy stands on the steps of St. Matthew’s Cathedral with her two young children by her side, as John F. Kennedy, Jr. salutes his father’s casket. She wears a long veil over her face. The choice of a veil was unusual; by 1963, mourning veils had fallen completely out of fashion. Like the mourning drapery she reinstated at the White House, she may have called upon the power of tradition—with the veil that tied her to the seven veiled widows of the nineteenth and early twentieth century that came before her.
Shutterstock
3
of
6
Pinch to zoom
Joseph and Jacqueline Kennedy Walking Near Gravesite of Anthony Biddle
Date: November 16, 1961 Creator: Bettmann / Contributor Medium: Photograph
Mrs. Kennedy wore the black Givenchy suit to at least two other funerals besides her husband’s. She is pictured here in 1961 at the funeral services for Anthony Biddle, who served briefly as the United States Ambassador to Spain. The first lady also wore the outfit to the funeral of Eleanor Roosevelt in 1962. Oleg Cassini, the designer of Mrs. Kennedy’s White House wardrobe, later described the ensemble as a “two-piece black wool suit featur[ing] a rounded open cowl neckline and natural shoulders. It was accented by two large, fringed buttons. The suit was seamed and shaped to the body and had a straight skirt.”
Bettmann/Getty Images
4
of
6
Pinch to zoom
Jacqueline Kennedy Holding Her Newborn Son
Date: December 8, 1960 Creator: Unknown Medium: Photograph
Oleg Cassini implied in his book A Thousand Days of Magic: Dressing Jacqueline Kennedy for the White House that, in 1961, he created Mrs. Kennedy’s famous black mourning ensemble. However, this photograph shows Mrs. Kennedy at the christening of her son John F. Kennedy, Jr. on December 8, 1960, a week before she began working with Mr. Cassini. It shows the first lady wearing the same black suit with large, fringed buttons she would later wear to her husband’s funeral.
Bettmann/Getty Images
5
of
6
Pinch to zoom
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Children Depart U.S. Capitol
Date: November 24, 1963 Creator: Abbie Rowe Medium: Photograph
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy is seen here descending the stairs of the U.S. Capitol Building, her face framed by her mourning veil, which she had lifted to kiss her husband’s casket. Oleg Cassini remembered a conversation he had once with the first lady: “We spoke of how fashion is a mirror of history; we discussed the message her clothing would send - simple, youthful, elegant - and how she would reinforce the image of her husband’s administration through her presence.” The image of the immaculately dressed young widow’s dignified grief touched millions of people around the world watching the funeral on television.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston/NARA
Pinch to zoom
Pinch to zoom
Pinch to zoom
Pinch to zoom
Pinch to zoom