Dallas Police Memorial Archives

The ambush that took place on Thursday, July 7, 2016, killing five police officers in downtown Dallas was a terrible tragedy. Thousands of mourners left gifts and letters to express their grief and memorialize the fallen officers outside of the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Headquarters. The Dallas Public Library has collected these items in order to preserve this moment in history and make it available to the public.

Friends of the Dallas Public Library (FoDPL) is seeking funding to begin the process of achiving these memorial items. This includes securing the necessary archival supplies required to store and digitize the memorial items at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in perpetuity. The funds donated will enable the purchase of acid-free archival boxes required to protect and preserve these historically significant letters, posters and ephemera, as well as begin the process of digitization. This collection will join the significant archival holdings maintained by the Dallas Public Library’s History & Archives Division, which is also home to the President John F. Kennedy Memorial Collection comprised of similar items that were left in Dealey Plaza following his death in November 1963.

FoDPL and the Dallas Public Library express our tremendous thanks for your generous support. These letters, drawings, objects, and more tell an incredible story of how the City of Dallas and the world responded to a tragic event with love and kindness. This is now an important part of our history that we will never forget, please help us preserve and protect it.