Shirt worn by Dr. Robert McClelland at Parkland Hospital on November 22, 1963

Object number2022.003.0001

Date11/22/1963

ClassificationsTextile

ObjectClothing

Credit LineDr. Robert N. McClelland Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumCloth; Biological matter

Terms

Collections

DescriptionDress shirt worn by Dr. Robert N. McClelland in Trauma Room One at Parkland Memorial Hospital on November 22, 1963. On the day of the assassination, Dr. McClelland was screening a medical film in an upstairs conference room when the presidential limousine arrived at Parkland's Emergency entrance. When President Kennedy was brought into Trauma Room One for treatment, McClelland did not have time to change from his suit into surgical scrubs. As McClelland stood at the top of the gurney near the president’s head during treatment, blood from the president's fatal wound stained the bottom of his shirt.

Curatorial Commentary

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

Curatorial Commentary

A powerful photograph of Dr. McClelland holding this blood-stained shirt taken by freelance photographer Randal Ford accompanied an article entitled "The Day Kennedy Died" by Michael J. Mooney in D Magazine on October 27, 2008. As of 2023, the article may be found here: The Day Kennedy Died - D Magazine. The same image was later included on the cover of the book, We Were There: Revelations from the Dallas Doctors Who Attended to JFK on November 22, 1963, by Dr. Allen Childs. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Curatorial Commentary

An instructor in surgery at Parkland Memorial Hospital in 1963, Dr. Robert N. McClelland participated in the treatment of President Kennedy in Trauma Room One and also assisted in the surgery of Governor John Connally that afternoon. Two days later, he was part of the surgical team for Lee Harvey Oswald after Oswald was shot was in the basement of Dallas police headquarters. More so than any other Parkland physician, Dr. McClelland was extremely generous with his time over the years, speaking frequently with students, researchers and historians about his activities during the weekend of the assassination. In particular, his observations and sketches of the president's head wound became a subject of considerable research interest and were featured in numerous books and documentaries. Dr. McClelland passed away on September 10, 2019.

Dr. McClelland's two oral histories with the Museum are accessible online. 2001: https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/21284, and 2011: https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/33003. A 2013 public program alongside his colleague, Dr. Ronald C. Jones, is here: Parkland Trauma Room One Reunion - YouTube.

Dr. McClelland's handwritten statement of activities from November 22, 1963 may be read here: https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/5133. - Stephen Fagin, Curator