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Image of President and Jacqueline Kennedy in the limousine at Love Field
Image of President and Jacqueline Kennedy in the limousine at Love Field

Image of President and Jacqueline Kennedy in the limousine at Love Field

Object number1994.003.0009.0002
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
Dimensions15/16 × 1 7/16 in. (2.4 × 3.6 cm)
Collections
DescriptionOriginal black and white 35mm negative by Dallas Morning News chief photographer Tom Dillard. The image shows President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy sitting in the presidential limousine a few seconds before the motorcade departed from Love Field on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. President Kennedy is reaching to his right, shaking hands with someone who cannot be seen. Mrs. Kennedy is smiling and looking towards her right while the Connallys are seated in front of them. Air Force One is visible in the background.
Curatorial Commentary
The balding man wearing glasses in the middle seat of the Secret Service follow-up vehicle is the late David Powers, special assistant to President Kennedy, and later the first curator of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Powers first met John F. Kennedy in 1946 and was a longtime family friend. He had an 8mm home movie camera with him in the follow-up vehicle on November 22, 1963, and researchers have long been curious about his seldom-seen private film. Mr. Powers' home movie, which can be seen in part online, stops around 12:25PM or roughly five minutes prior to the assassination. Considering his unique vantage point directly behind the presidential limousine, had David Powers remained filming in Dealey Plaza, his footage would likely rival the Abraham Zapruder film as one of the most historic home movies of the 20th century. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator