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Image of the Kennedys disembarking Air Force One at Dallas Love Field
Image of the Kennedys disembarking Air Force One at Dallas Love Field

Image of the Kennedys disembarking Air Force One at Dallas Love Field

Object number2001.064.0023
Date11/22/1963
ClassificationsPhotographs
Photographer Dorothy Murphy
ObjectSlide
Credit LineDorothy and Carter Murphy Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumFilm
Dimensions2 x 2 in. (5.1 x 5.1 cm)
DescriptionOriginal 35mm color slide taken by Dallas resident Dorothy Murphy showing the Kennedys exiting Air Force One at Love Field on November 22,1963. A crowd holding signs welcoming the Kennedys is visible in the foreground. Only Mrs. Kennedy's head and pink pillbox hat are visible above a sign at the center. President Kennedy descends the stairs behind her, and he is followed by Governor and Mrs. Connally.
Curatorial Commentary

A number of similar handmade signs were freely distributed to spectators at Dallas Love Field on the morning of November 22, 1963. Although the wording on the roughly handwritten signs differed, all referenced "Grassroots Democrats," with some also indicating an affiliation with nearby Southern Methodist University. Slogans on these signs included: "All the Way with JFK," "Welcome Jack," and "We Love Jackie." One of these signs, the only surviving example known to exist, is in the Museum's Collection, 2018.021.0002 - https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/56406/.

Other homemade signs, different from the "Grassroots Democrats" signs, can be seen facing the photographer in this image, including one that reads "Grand Prairie Democrats Welcomes You." While running for president in September 1960, Senator Kennedy had visited Grand Prairie in Dallas County, thirteen miles west of downtown Dallas. Today, there is a John F. Kennedy Middle School in Grand Prairie. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator

Object featured in special exhibition, Two Days in Texas, November 8, 2023 through September 28, 2024.