Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Investigation of Oswald’s post office box and alias usage

This section investigates Oswald’s use of post office boxes and aliases after his return from the Soviet Union, to assess if he used these tools for clandestine contact with potential assassination co-conspirators. It notes Oswald opened three post office boxes between 1962 and 1963: a Dallas box opened October 9, 1962 (closed May 1963, used to receive the assassination rifle and Smith & Wesson revolver under the alias A. Hidell), a New Orleans box opened June 3, 1963 (closed September 1963, listed Marina Oswald and A.J. Hidell as authorized recipients), and a Dallas Terminal Annex box opened November 1, 1963 (listed the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and American Civil Liberties Union as authorized recipients). Investigation found no evidence any box was used for surreptitious messages or accessed by anyone other than Oswald or his family: the box active on the day of the assassination was under constant surveillance from 5 p.m. November 22 to midnight November 24, and contained only a Russian magazine addressed to Oswald. Oswald rented all boxes using his real name, provided box numbers to family, employers, and government agencies, and his use of boxes was consistent with his frequent address changes and receipt of political literature. The Commission attached no conspiratorial significance to his post office box use. The section also covers Oswald’s well-documented use of the alias A.J. Hidell (and variants) for purposes including listing a fake Fair Play for Cuba Committee president, a fake doctor on a counterfeit vaccination certificate, and job references, with no evidence he used the alias for undercover contact with others.