Baptist Alley and preservation

[Jim Garrett]

Everyone remembers the "pillow in the case" at the Petersen House. The pillow is in the NPS storage facility. People always ask about it. It leaves an iconic impression on all who have viewed it.

During the last night, there were numerous pillows used for the President. Every time MTL wanted to come back to see her husband, the doctors would change the pillows or put fresh linens over the pillows and anything else that may be bloodstained. They didn't want MTL to see all the blood.

The NPS has two pillows from the deeath bed. A smaller pillow that may have come from the Sardo house, next door to the Petersens House, downhill, is on display in the basement museum. It has a sufficient amount of blood to satisfy most people's morbid curiousity.

The blue striped pillow is very very fragile. It is the pillow that was under the President's head when he died. I am told it is so fragile that you could poke your finger through it with very little pressure.