John Dillinger Driver's License Application Signed "John Dillinger". Two pages (front and back) of a single, partially printed form, 5" x 6", Mooresville, Indiana; July 7, 1933. On the application, Dillinger describes himself as a 30-year-old white male, 5' 7 ¾", weighing 152 pounds, with brown hair and grey eyes. Dillinger had been driving motor vehicles for ten years before he received a formal license. Notably, Dillinger replied "no" to the question of if he had ever been convicted of a felony, despite having been released from prison just two months prior after having served nine and a half years at the Indiana State Prison.

After being released from prison on May 10, 1933, Dillinger almost immediately returned to a life of crime and robbed his first bank on June 21, 1933. Between then and June 30, 1934, Dillinger and his gang executed at least twelve bank robberies. Over this period, he was arrested twice and managed to break out to rejoin his gang. On March 21, 1934, Dillinger was wounded in the leg during a shootout with two secret agents. He returned to Mooresville, Indiana and recuperated there before quietly relocating to Chicago. Federal agents and Chicago police ultimately tracked him down, and he was killed just outside the Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934.

Included with the license application are two clipped Indiana newspaper articles circa 1967 about John Dillinger. One provides a biographical history of the infamous gangster, while the other posits the conspiracy theory that the FBI shot the wrong man and that Dillinger may still be alive.

Condition: The application is moderately toned throughout, with chipped and worn edges. There are horizontal and vertical folds, which have caused weaknesses and separations. Dillinger's signature is only minimally affected and is very bold. There are some small areas of staining at the edges as well. Three strips of tape have been placed on verso so as to reinforce the areas where separations have occurred.