Image of dignitaries greeting the presidential party at Love Field

In addition to Vice President and Mrs. Johnson, the official welcoming party at Dallas Love Field included Mayor Earle Cabell and his wife Dearie, who presented the bouquet of red roses to Mrs. Kennedy, as well as future Dallas Mayor J. Erik Jonsson, a co-founder of Texas Instruments, Inc. and then president of the influential Dallas Citizens Council. A little over one hour after this photograph was taken, solemnly remarking that he felt like he did when Pearl Harbor was bombed, Jonsson informed the luncheon crowd at the Dallas Trade Mart that President Kennedy had been shot. Also visible in this receiving line is U.S. district judge H. Barefoot Sanders, who - about three hours after greeting President Kennedy at Love Field - helped arrange the swearing-in of Lyndon B. Johnson aboard the aircraft seen in this photo. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator  

The only African American on the airport reception committee for the Kennedys on November 22, 1963 was community leader and civil rights advocate James E. Smith, then president of the Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce. He is visible in the center left of this photo, standing next to U.S. Attorney Barefoot Sanders. Smith's son, Lee Stanley Smith, recorded an oral history with the Museum - and donated his late father's Airport Reception badge and Dallas Trade Mart luncheon invitation - in 2025. - Stephen Fagin, Curator