Raleigh DeGeer Amyx (June 14, 1938 – June 30, 2019) was an American collector of Presidential, Americana, military, sports, NASA, and Olympic artifacts, including gold, silver and bronze winners medals presented to athletes.[1]
Amyx served in the U.S. Army and worked at the FBI.[2] At one time he served in the Investigation Division, which included the kidnapping and sexual slavery units. He served as a messenger to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. In 1957 Hoover presented an inscribed and signed sepia-toned photo to Amyx.[2][4] About the same time, Amyx was asked by the Director's Office to take a message to the then Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Lyndon B. Johnson, and to then Senator John F. Kennedy.[2] While in the Senate Office with Kennedy, Amyx asked him to inscribe and sign a photograph, to which he obliged.[2]
Later Amyx became an Association Executive,[5] overseeing and co-authoring the Gymnastics Safety Manual.[6] Following a near-fatal bout with throat cancer,[2] Amyx founded American Heritage Manuscripts and Collectibles.[4]
Collector
Amyx claims he started collecting at age seven, when he "opened" a museum consisting of some coins, stamps, butterflies and a dead bat. Admission was 2 cents.[4] Amyx's large private collection as an adult is specialized in Presidential, Sports, Military, and NASA collectibles, particularly those owned and used by famous Americans.[7][8]
Presidential collection
A photograph of the painting Eisenhower did of Telegraph Cottage where he lived during WWII
In the early 1980s, Amyx claims he saw Backstairs at the White House, a television mini-series adapted from the book My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House by Lillian Rogers Parks, who had been a housekeeper and seamstress at the White House for thirty years. Amyx was inspired to gather mementos from former White House employees into a collection, and placed numerous advertisements in The Washington Post. One response said, "You don't know who to leave all this stuff to. You'd be out on a walk with the president and he would say 'Here's a little something for you'... We took it for granted in those days. It was just work. Now it's history."[4] Amyx has stated he recognized the historical importance of both the items and the stories, and gathered signed provenance letters from each contributor to authenticate the items.[4] Amyx has since worked with some 100 people who have held long-term household positions for First Families since the days of Herbert Hoover, and some whose parents and/or grandparents served in the White House as far back as the 19th century.
Dwight Eisenhower's Rolex watch, from the Raleigh DeGeer Amyx Collection
His official White House china collection ranks as the world's second-largest privately owned such collection. One piece from the collection was traded to Robert L. McNeil and is featured in the book American Presidential China.[7] Another item in the collection is President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Rolex Datejust, which is the 150,000th officially certified Rolex Chronometer made. This watch was featured in Jake's Rolex World magazine.[9]
According to the Olympian Collectors Club, his Olympic Medal and memorabilia collection ranks within the top four collections in the world.[11] His collection includes over 50 Olympic medals in gold, silver, and bronze dating back to 1896.[11] He is a member of the International Society of Olympic Historians, with research interests in the Olympic Movement, Olympic history, promotion of Olympic Games, and Olympic gymnastics.
He has made national television appearances, such as on Good Morning America. His collection was filmed by ABC. In addition to TV, a number of newspaper and book references[12][13][14][15] have mentioned him and his collection. Auction companies, such as RR Auction, have also published articles and videos featuring Raleigh DeGeer Amyx.[8]
^Encyclopedia of Associations, Volume 3, Part 3 edited by Frederick G. Ruffner, Margaret Fisk
^Gymnastics Safety Manual: the Official Manual of the United States By United States Gymnastics Safety Association, Eugene Wettstone and Raleigh DeGeer Amyx
^ abAmerican Presidential China: the Robert L. McNeil Jr. Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art / Susan Gray Detweiler (page 76)
