INSCRIBED BY JOHN F. KENNEDY

KENNEDY, John F. Inscribed photograph. Washington, D.C., no date. Photograph measures 9 by 14 inches, matted and framed, entire piece measures 18 by 22 inches. $3800.

Black-and-white photograph of President Kennedy, inscribed by him for a close personal friend, “for Frankie Childers, with every good wish, John Kennedy.”

The photograph displays Kennedy stepping off of the Congressional subway that runs between the congressional office buildings and the Capitol building; he is talking with a woman, presumably the recipient. Frances Childers was a close friend of Kennedy's and a prominent member of the Washington arts community; she served for many years as artistic director of Ford's Theatre in Washington, a National Historic site whose transformation from storage site to reborn theatre in 1968 was due mainly to her efforts. She counted every president and first lady from Kennedy to George W. Bush as a friend. She was known for most of her life as Frankie Hewitt, from her marriage to Don Hewitt, the creator of television's 60 Minutes.

A bit of corrosion to photograph surface from the signature ink, light wear to edges. An exceptional inscribed Kennedy item.