Image of Governor John Connally getting into the limousine at Love Field
Object number2018.006.0010
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)
Collections
DescriptionOriginal 35mm color slide showing Texas Governor John Connally as he was getting into the presidential limousine at Love Field, in preparation for the planned motorcade through Dallas on Friday, November 22, 1963. The image was taken by amateur photographers Rudy and Vera Clauss. A group of flight attendants and military personnel is visible behind Governor Connally.
Curatorial CommentaryVisible in the background of this photo is the Braniff Airways operations base and aircraft hangars at Dallas Love Field. Built in 1958, this midcentury modern structure was designed by international architects William Pereira and Charles Luckman. Now called the Braniff Centre at Dallas Love Field, the 200,000 square foot structure is used for private jet aircraft and retail, restaurant, office, and hospitality space. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
As he prepares to sit down in one of the jump seats of the presidential limousine for the fateful Dallas motorcade, Texas Governor John B. Connally has his right arm raised, clearly showing his right wrist. Approximately 40 minutes after this photograph was taken, the governor's right radius bone, the smaller bone of the forearm, was shattered by a gunshot. During the assassination, Governor Connally received an entry wound to the dorsal (or backside) of his forearm about two inches from the wrist on the thumb side. In his 1964 Warren Commission testimony, Connally said that he was not aware of his wrist injury until the following day: "[On] Saturday, the next morning... I looked up and my arm was tied up in a hospital bed, and I said, 'What is wrong with my arm?' And they told me that I had a shattered wrist, and that is when I also found out I had a wound in the thigh." -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
