US Sues for JFK Papers on Racism, Missile Crisis Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Retuers via Yahoo - Apr 22, 2002 US Govt Sues for Return of JFK Papers on US Racism, Missile Crisis By Gail Appleson, Law Correspondent NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Monday sued the operator of a collectibles Web site seeking the return of John F. Kennedy papers from 1962, alleging the late president's secretary may have wrongfully sold or given away the documents. The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, is trying to stop the sale of a 1962 Cuban missile crisis map with Kennedy's notations. It is also seeking the return of papers concerning Kennedy's involvement in events following efforts by James Meredith, an African American, to enroll in the University of Mississippi. National Guard troops were sent to stop the violence that had broken out after Meredith tried to enroll at the segregated school. The lawsuit was brought against Gary Zimet, who is selling the documents through his Internet company "Moments in Time." The company describes itself as one of the nation's leading dealers of premium-quality autographs and that it maintains a selection of original letters, historical documents and vintage signed photographs. Government papers filed along with the lawsuit allege that it appears likely that Kennedy's longtime personal secretary Evelyn Lincoln may have removed the materials from files in her custody. The papers allege that she might have given or sold them to others. Lincoln died in 1995. Prosecutors said that after the suit was filed, a federal judge signed a temporary restraining order stopping Zimet from selling or transferring the materials until a hearing is held next week. KEY KENNEDY MANUSCRIPT Zimet's Web site, www.momentsintime.com, advertises "JFK's Cuban missile crisis map with Kennedy's handwritten annotations" for sale at $750,000. It states that the map had been prepared by the CIA (news - web sites) and contains Kennedy's markings showing locations of newly discovered Russian missile sites. "This is the most important Kennedy manuscript extant in private hands," the site alleges. It shows a sample section of the map, described as 12 inches by 40 inches (30 cm by 100 cm) in color. Zimet's site states that the map was originally acquired from Kennedy collector Robert White, who received it from Lincoln. Prosecutors allege that the map and the Meredith documents, along with Kennedy's other official papers, were donated to the United States for deposit in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. After Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, the papers were given to the library by Jacqueline Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who have since died, and Sen. Edward Kennedy. According to the suit, the National Archives and Records Administration first learned that Zimet was trying to sell the documents in late February and early March. The agency is entrusted with the care and preservation of the government's Presidential archival deposits. The suit alleges that Zimet has refused to return the papers or say where they are located. Zimet, who lives in Washingtonville, New York, could not immediately be reached for comment. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytrc-04.22.02-19:07:05-4129