The Bloody Pillow Case

[Dave Taylor]

Anita,

I can explain. First off, the picture in the exhibit catalog is of the other side of the pillow. That particular image was taken by a Ford's Theatre employee and then used by the Reagan people in the catalog. Reagan is displaying the other side of the pillow where the blood stains are more visible.

The black marks you see are not period. Rather they are ink stains that occurred sometime afterward. Whether the stains occurred when the artifact was displayed early on, or are due to some mishap during storage, I don't know. Ford's is aware of the damage, however, and could possibly relate how/when the ink stains occurred.

I hope this helps.