Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. (1923 - 1998)
Born and died at Derry (NH).
Professional American military man (U.S. Navy) and America's first astronaut.
Portrait by Bruce Stevenson (1898 - 1963), 1961/2; copied from the original by the artist.
Presented to the State, 1962.

In Fall 1958 the world was startled to hear that the Soviet Union had successfully launched the first satellite, "Sputnik", into orbit around the earth. In the United States, still gripped by decades of a Cold War with the Soviet Union, columnists and newscasters speculated that the Soviets had shown up American science and technology, and there was talk of the American Way of Life being ground under the heel of the technologically superior Soviets.

With the 1958 congressional elections a few weeks away, and with the 1960 presidential campaigns in early stages of preparation, politicians struggled to respond to American fears of Soviet dominance. The two ultimate candidates, Richard Nixon (Republican) and John Kennedy (Democrat) struggled to outdo each other in their resolve to overcome the Soviet Threat, and when Kennedy narrowly won the election he promised that America would land the first man on the moon. The Space Race began.

The first of seven astronauts chosen for the race to land on the moon was Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Shepard was a career U.S. Navy man, and the artist for his official U.S. Naval Academy portrait was selected by Admiral Arleigh Burke. The artist, Bruce Stevenson, was asked to portray Shepard (in his "blues") for the USNA Hall of Fame, at Annapolis (MD). Stevenson was then asked to portray Shepard in his astronaut clothing for the National Air and Space Museum, at Washington (D.C.).

Copies of Stevenson's two portraits were then commissioned by Commander Shepard's parents. The copy of the USNA portrait was presented to Pinkerton Academy (Derry, NH); the copy of the National Air and Space Museum portrait was presented to the State of New Hampshire. It may be seen at The New Hampshire State House, where it hangs adjacent to the Visitors Center (Rooms 118/119).

Reference: Correspondence with artist's family and others; see State Curator files.