DescriptionReporter's notes from Love Field, typed in black on tan copy paper. This is likely a continuation of Dallas Times Herald reporter Jim Lehrer’s notes from Love Field, typed by editor John Schoellkopf on November 22, 1963 (see 1996.003.0006). The notes were called in from Love Field, providing information about the President's arrival in Dallas. The notes describe the various signs seen on the tarmac with descriptions of the individuals holding them. There is a checkmark next to every line of the note.
Text of the notes read in full:
"six high school boys leading anti-Kennedy group
all students at Thomas Jefferson High School....at airport shortly after 10 a.m.
1 boy, Mike Hickey, 16, 4415 Bluffview, carried sign said "Help JFK Stamp Out Democracy" on other....
Asked why---"One thing, we could get out of school to come here. against Kennedy----"His administration has set down all kinds of rules on the equipment that can be on foreign cars."
Support Goldwater? "I like Romney better, but...."
Another boy....Rick Tears, 16, 8626 Inwood “Anybody's better than Kennedy"
Third boy --- "Clifford Gilpatrick, 17, 5350 Montrose, a senior "I believe a lot of what they think, but not all (other boys) I'm driving the car. I came along mainly to give them a ride."
10:30 a.m. ---kids only with anti-Kennedy signs
many pro Kennedy signs.... hand-made ..."We Love You Jackie" "All the Way with JFK" Some campaign signs left over after 1960 presidential election
a third of the group at Love Field....high school kids and younger"
Curatorial Commentary
The Museum's John Schoellkopf Collection includes a number of typed notes and draft stories from November 22, 1963, as well as newspaper proofs, a pencil mock-up of the intended front page and other Dallas Times Herald documents related to the weekend of the Kennedy assassination. John L. Schoellkopf (1938-2018) had a remarkable career at the Dallas Times Herald, starting out as an intern while attending Southern Methodist University in 1957. By the time he left journalism in 1970 for a career in business, farming and politics, he had risen to become the Dallas Times Herald vice president of administration. At the time of the Kennedy assassination in 1963, he was the paper's assistant city editor. Schoellkopf later ran for Dallas mayor and served on the board of a number of organizations including the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas Theater Center and the Texas State Historical Association. Schoellkopf recorded an oral history with The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on June 11, 1996. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
This object is featured in the Museum's special exhibit, "On Assignment: Dallas Times Herald 1963," which opened on April 29, 2026.
Jim Lehrer, an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist best known for the long-running PBS NewsHour program and for moderating presidential debates (1988-2012), was a reporter at the Dallas Times Herald in 1963. Assigned to Dallas Love Field on November 22, 1963, he witnessed the Secret Service remove the bubbletop from the presidential limousine shortly before the Dallas motorcade. Following the assassination, he covered the scene at Dallas police headquarters.
