Trombone with case, used at Fort Worth breakfast on November 22, 1963

This musical instrument had a unique journey from the Fort Worth breakfast to The Sixth Floor Museum nearly sixty years later. Donor William Cravens recalled that it was at one point stolen from his car, and he had to reclaim it from a pawn shop. He later donated the trombone to the Fort Worth ISD for other students to use, and it was in regular rotation for a number of years, used by dozens of band students who had no idea it had performed "Hail to the Chief" for President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Upon learning from his lifelong friend and fellow band student John Sparks that The Sixth Floor Museum was interested in acquiring an instrument used at the Fort Worth breakfast, Cravens set out to track down the trombone within the Fort Worth ISD. It was discovered in storage, having been retired from active use but thankfully not discarded, and Cravens reclaimed it and subsequently donated it to The Sixth Floor Museum in January 2023.

William Cravens' 2023 oral history may be accessed here: https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/73566. - Stephen Fagin, Curator