Dealey Plaza (Grassy Knoll) White Picket Fence

Auction: June 2005

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Dealey Plaza (Grassy Knoll) White Picket Fence

To our amazement, this sectioned white picket fence from Dealey Plaza, though a critical component in endless conspiracy theories about the JFK assassination, was never dismantled and replaced until January 11, 2000 -- meaning that for over 36 years it remained in place and intact, looming over the infamous grassy knoll as it did on November 22, 1963 when America lost its innocence and the world changed forever. For all that time, it stood as a reminder of one of the darkest days in history, when a young and idealistic president's life was snuffed out by an assassin's bullet. While it seems only logical that such a landmark would have been transported to the Smithsonian, perhaps its power to spark debate about the "official" government explanation of the assassination rendered it unfit for such commemoration. Rather, the powers that be -- still holding to the Warren Report's sole gunman conclusion -- have preferred to let the fence simply rot away. And it nearly did. When finally taken down, a tour guide in Dealey Plaza asked an employee of J&M Fence Company, which had begun dismantling it, what he was going to do with the the fence. He responded that he was going to throw it in a dump. The tour guide asked if he could have it instead, and became the owner of a piece of Americana like no other, able to salvage over 93% of the lumber. The fence then went into storage, and when the storage fees were not paid, the fence was sold at a public sale to our consignor. While reviving the tragedy, the fence is also unquestionably a monument. For JFK conspiracy buffs, it also offers a chance to find clues about the still unexplained events in Dallas that dark day. While the official story is that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal shot from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, polls show that up to 90 percent of Americans believe there was a conspiracy. If so, the fence would have provided a natural shield and a perfect angle for shooting, on an incline a mere hundred feet or so from the car. Also remember that a crowd of people ran up the grassy knoll instinctively believing the shots came from behind the fence; some swore they saw a "puff of smoke" rising from it. There is also the Zapruder film showing JFK's head jerking "back and to the left" and ballistic and acoustic analyses of police tapes that led the House Select Committee to conclude there was a 96 percent probability of a second gunman. Moreover, digitalized photographic study has unearthed the wraithlike figure of a man possibly clad in a police uniform (aka "Badgeman") firing a rifle. There was eyewitness testimony about men who passed themselves off as CIA agents refusing to allow anyone access to the railroad yard area behind the fence before the shooting. A man named Ed Hoffman, ignored by the Commission, was quoted in an article included with the extensive documentation and LOAs accompanying the fence that he actually saw a man assemble a rifle from pieces in a brown paper bag and rest the gun on the pickets of the fence, then after shooting toss it to another man and run off. But what of the fence itself? Are there any clues to be gleaned from it? We can't answer that, of course, but perhaps someone can through a meticulous examination. What we can tell you is that, cosmetically, the fence has been repaired a number of times over the years and thus few of the pickets are believed to be original, thus the snow white color seen in old pictures has been replaced by faded gray or bare brown wood pickets. Some sections have holes and shaved off slats, though for the most part the fence remains quite sturdy. The most striking aspect may be the reams of graffiti written on it by tourists through the years, both American and otherwise. This includes names, symbols, dates, Biblical passages, simple tributes like "RIP, JFK" and opinions like "Oswald Was Framed" and "Blame the Government." One bit of homemade poetry reads "They shall be same though they sink through the sea, They shall rise again." Sections of the fence can of course be reassembled and displayed in full. Each section is approx. 70" wide and 55", four sections in all making for a total area appox. 23' wide. While the fence has undergone repairs, the wooden cross members that make up the main frame, and the metal posts, are original and predate 1963. The last time the pickets were replaced was in 1993. Included are LOAs from Ronald D. Rice (Dealy Plaza Tour Guide) relating how he came to salvage the fence, and from others involved in the transaction, a large schematic diagram of Dealey Plaza showing the exact route of the motorcade, various conspiracy theory materials, and a DVD with bonus material from the Oliver Stone movie "JFK." A President died that day, but the history and speculation embodied by this most famous picket fence in America will live forever.