Image of President and Mrs. Kennedy at Love Field

Object number1994.003.0005.0006

Date11/22/1963

ClassificationsPhotographs

Photographer Tom C. Dillard

ObjectNegative (b&w)

Credit LineTom C. Dillard Collection, The Dallas Morning News/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumFilm

Dimensions1 x 1 1/2 in. (2.5 x 3.8 cm)

Terms

Collections

DescriptionOriginal black and white 35mm negative by Dallas Morning News chief photographer Tom Dillard. The image shows President and Mrs. Kennedy shaking hands with local dignitaries at Love Field. Visible in the background are crowds of waiting citizens, planes and some of the cars to be used in the president's motorcade through Dallas.

Curatorial Commentary

In this photograph, President Kennedy is shaking hands with Rev. Baxton Bryant, then pastor of Elwood Methodist Church in Dallas. Prior to the Texas trip, Bryant vocally complained that Kennedy supporters were being snubbed by not receiving invitations to the Dallas Trade Mart luncheon. He even arranged a protest meeting for Kennedy supporters at the Dallas County Records Building in Dealey Plaza on Monday, November 18. Some sixty-three people attended. As evidenced by this photo, Bryant managed to personally greet President Kennedy at Love Field, where he told the president that Sen. Ralph Yarborough had provided a ticket for Bryant to attend the luncheon. In a 1989 interview, Bryant said that he "stayed up all night making the signs for the young grassroots Democrats," which are visible in many of the photographs taken at Dallas Love Field that day. After the Kennedy assassination, Bryant went on to challenge Dallas mayor Earle Cabell for the Democratic nomination for Congress in 1964. Cabell won the nomination and ultimately unseated Republican Bruce Alger.

Mrs. Kennedy is greeting 85-year-old supporter Annie Dunbar in her wheelchair. Dunbar had accompanied Bryant to Love Field that day. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator