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Gerald R. Ford Memorabilia Raises $130,000

Posted at 2:53 PM, Dec 12, 2012
and last updated 2012-12-12 17:04:05-05

DALLAS, Texas. – President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford sold some of their belongings in an auction Tuesday, raising $130,000.

The live auction was put on by Heritage Auctions out of Dallas. Some of the memorabilia sold in the auction included the late president’s personal golf clubs, which brought in the most money, selling at $26, 290. Another hot item was an apricot and silver, sequins gown worn by First Lady Betty Ford at multiple events in 1979. That piece sold for $7, 767.50.

The Ford Foundation put on the auction in efforts to raise money for a $15 million capital campaign, with the intention of adding 10,000-square-foot Student Learning Center to the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids. More than 50 personal items belonging to President Ford and First Lady Betty Ford were donated to the auction.

Among the items donated was also the rug of the presidential seal that was used in Ford’s office in his post-presidential home. It sold for $13,145.

Another symbolic piece, the U.S. flag that flew over the White House on the final morning of the Ford Administration on January in 1977, sold for $2, 151.

President Ford died in December 2006. First Lady Betty Ford died 5 years later in July, 2011.