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Image of Jacqueline Kennedy waving to the crowds at Love Field
Image of Jacqueline Kennedy waving to the crowds at Love Field

Image of Jacqueline Kennedy waving to the crowds at Love Field

Object number2018.006.0009
Date11/22/1963
ClassificationsPhotographs
Photographer Rudy Clauss
Photographer Vera Clauss
ObjectSlide
Credit LineRudy and Vera Clauss Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumCardboard, Film
Dimensions2 × 2 in. (5.1 × 5.1 cm)
DescriptionOriginal 35mm color slide taken by amateur photographers Rudy and Vera Clauss showing Jacqueline Kennedy waving to the crowds at Love Field airport in Dallas, TX on November 22, 1963. Jacqueline Kennedy smiles and carries a bouquet of red roses while being surrounded by Secret Service agents and police officers. A red Love Field fire engine is visible in the background.
Curatorial Commentary
The balding man seen smiling towards the camera in the far left center of this photo is American Airlines executive Walter Henry Hagan. At the time, he was, among his other responsibilities, the celebrity greeter at Dallas Love Field. A little more than two and a half hours before Air Force One landed at Dallas Love Field, Hagan had greeted former Vice President Richard Nixon at the airport. Nixon was in town as a corporate attorney, attending the American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages annual convention. According to Hagan, Nixon briefly mentioned Kennedy's impending visit, saying, "It looks like you're going to have a big day today." Nixon boarded his flight in Dallas at 9:05AM and landed in New York approximately fifteen minutes before the assassination.  -- Stephen Fagin, Curator