Description:

Ronald Reagan Signed WH Memo Re: Eye Donor Pledge; Reagan Would Become Powerful Presidential Booster

A White House memorandum signed and endorsed by sitting 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) as: "It is appropriate to keep the / pledge & yes they may use that / in their publicity - that goes / for Nancy too - we both made the pledge. RR" at lower right. February 23, 1981. [Washington, D.C.] Reagan's 27-word endorsement (including one cross out) appears on a 1p typed memorandum on watermarked "The White House / Washington" stationery. With multiple edits including underlines. Expected light wear including corner wrinkles and old staple holes, else near fine. 8.5" x 11."

The memo was sent from White House staffer John D. Fitzsimmons, who has initialed it, to White House secretary Lindy St. Cyr. Stapled at upper right to a photocopy of a letter dated January 30, 1981 from Mary Jane O'Neill, Executive Director of The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration, Inc., to William A. Wilson (1914-2009), Reagan's close friend. 

Impeccable provenance as this item comes from the files of Helene von Damm (b. 1938), Reagan's longtime personal secretary and later Ambassador to Austria, and gifted to our consignor, her White House assistant.

President Reagan's endorsement confirmed that both he and First Lady Nancy Reagan had pledged to become eye donors. The Reagan administration had been contacted by The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration, Inc., the first eye bank in the world established in New York City in 1944. The non-profit organization - still operating today through a national network of eye banks - is committed to collecting, storing, and distributing donated eyes and eye parts to patients with damaged or diseased eyes; and conducting important ophthalmological research. Over the organization's 80-year-long history, it's estimated that over 70,000 people have had their vision restored through the donation of transplanted ocular tissue.

Reagan would do much to promote awareness of eye donation in the early 1980s. In this way, he continued a legacy of presidential involvement with The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration; Herbert Hoover, as well as five former First Ladies, had either served on the organization council or personally signed the pledge. On February 25, 1982, President Reagan signed Proclamation 4902, "Save Your Vision Week," in which he stressed the importance of eye donation. This was followed by two other important presidential proclamations, dated March 21, 1983 and March 31, 1984 respectively, which declared March "National Eye Donor Month." In these back-to-back proclamations, Reagan stated: "One of the most magnificent presents that one human being can bestow upon another is the gift of sight…" via eye donation. Many modern-day eye banks cite Reagan's proclamation of National Eye Donor Month in the early 1980s as a watershed moment in raising awareness about postmortem eye donation.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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