Museum founder Alton Lowe leads former US President Richard Nixon on a tour of the museum. Here, they discuss “Loyalist Dreams,” one of Lowe’s paintings which, later that year, was featured in a series of postage stamps honouring the Bahamian Loyalist Bicentennial.

Alton R. Lowe recalls…

This photo brings back wonderful memories of a visit to the Albert Lowe Museum by President Nixon and several of his close friends. It occurred in June of 1984. Frankly, I was astonished by the charm and warmth of of the former President, knowing how brutal the American press was toward the man. In fact, he was totally unlike his public image.

Mr. Nixon spent about two hours at the museum and asked me dozens of questions about the museum and the history of Green Turtle Cay and The Bahamas. I was struck by his keen intelligence and knowledge of Bahamian history. It was truly a pleasure guiding him through the museum.

Behind us in the photo, you can see the lovely painting of Michelle Roberts which I titled “Loyalist Dreams”. By the way, that oil portrait became the first of over 120 postage stamps that I created for The Bahamas government. That was in 1973.

Just out of camera range is the companion portrait of a Loyalist black girl; the two portraits were warmly received when they first were presented for public viewing. They both remain in the museum’s main display room