JFK PRESENTS TROPHY TO FIRST AMERICAN ASTRONAUTS
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy presented the Collier Trophy to the first American astronauts at the White House.
The National Aeronautic Association and LOOK magazine awarded the Robert J. Collier* trophy each year to honor outstanding achievement in aviation.
The trophy for 1963 was presented jointly to the original seven man team of astronauts which included...
Lt. Comdr. M. Scott Carpenter
Maj. L. Gordon Cooper, Jr.
Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr.
Maj. Virgil I. Grissom,
Comdr. Walter M. Schirra,Jr.
Comdr. Alan Shepard
Maj. Donald K. Slayton
Speaking at the ceremony for the NAA was Martin M. Decker, the association's president. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and NASA Director James E. Webb also attended the event.
President Kennedy said...
"I think (this trophy) honors an extraordinary page in American history, as well as in the history of flight. And I hope that this award...will be a stimulus...to (all) who will carry our flag to the moon and perhaps even someday beyond.
I am confident that when this job is done...we will have particular appreciation to the Americans who are here today, who led this effort. So it is a great pleasure for me to present to them this celebrated award."
*Robert J. Collier (1876-1918), born in New York City, became head of P.F. Collier and Son Publishing Company upon his father's death. He was a graduate of Georgetown University. Collier died of a heart attack at age 42.
SOURCE
"Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy, 1963," United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1964.
Herbert Hoover Presents
Collier Trophy of 1929
The White House
NACA Photo
