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Image of President Kennedy in Fort Worth
Image of President Kennedy in Fort Worth

Image of President Kennedy in Fort Worth

Object number2011.013.0002
Date11/22/1963
ClassificationsPhotographs
Photographer George Putnam
ObjectSlide
Credit LineJean Putnam Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumFilm
Dimensions2 x 2 in. (5.1 x 5.1 cm)
Description35mm color slide of President Kennedy seated in the back of a convertible in Fort Worth, Texas, the morning of November 22, 1963. Image taken by Fort Worth resident George Putnam. Secret Service agent Roy Kellerman sits in front of the president, partially obscuring Jacqueline Kennedy in the backseat and Texas Governor John Connally to her left.
Curatorial Commentary

The 1963 white Lincoln convertible with red leather interior used by the Kennedys in Fort Worth was loaned to the Secret Service by local resident Bill Poston, a member of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. Poston, who owned a home improvement business, leased the car for business use from the Fort Worth National Bank. The car itself came from Golightly Auto Sales in Fort Worth.

The convertible has had an interesting history. Bill Golightly of Golightly Auto Sales sold the car in 1964 to a local resident, who used the car until he sold it to the Tragedy in U.S. History Museum in St. Augustine, Florida. When that museum closed in 1998, the car went on display at the Classic Car Gallery in Southport, Connecticut. That organization then sold the car via eBay in 2003. - Stephen Fagin, Associate Curator