/internal/media/dispatcher/24784/fullImage of the presidential limousine at Love Field Airport in Dallas11/22/19631 × 1 1/2 in. (2.5 × 3.8 cm)FilmTom C. Dillard Collection, The Dallas Morning News/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza1994.003.0002.00030Black and white 35mm negative showing the presidential limousine at Love Field on November 22, 1963. The image was taken by Tom C. Dillard, Chief Photographer for The Dallas Morning News.
The photographer was standing directly in front of the limousine to take the image: the front grill, bumper, headlights, and hood are the primary focus. The license plate is visible; it reads "GG 300, District of Columbia." The viewer can see through the windshield to the backseat of the vehicle. The American and Presidential diplomatic flags on either side of the front of the limousine were covered at the time the image was captured.
There are several men standing on either side of the limousine and behind it in the background. On the left side in the background is the Secret Service follow up car. In the upper right corner are the stairs leading up to Air Force One. In the upper left corner, the crowds waiting to see President Kennedy can be seen behind a metal chain-link fence.
Photographic negative has a corresponding print: 1994.003.0080.Photographs650243.81000762002.540005080011776Negative (b&w)0E-10Original black and white 35mm negative by Dallas Morning News chief photographer Tom Dillard. The image shows the presidential limousine nearly two hours before the assassination and about one hour before the presidential party’s arrival at Love Field for the motorcade through Dallas on November 22, 1963. The image shows the presidential limousine from the front, surrounded by members of the press and Secret Service agents. The crowd awaiting the arrival of Air Force One can be seen in the background along the left side of the image behind a chain-link fence.ReporterAir Force OnePhotographsPressLimousineDillard, Tom C.Love FieldThe Dallas Morning NewsSecret ServiceDallasThe United States and presidential seal flags on the front of the limousine are still furled and bagged in this photograph. A color home movie by Love Field spectator George Reid captured the moment when the flags were unfurled just prior to the presidential motorcade through Dallas. George Reid himself, looking through the viewfinder of his 8mm camera, can be seen in a later Tom Dillard photograph, 1994.003.0003.0002. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator