On Page 1 of its September 29, 1951 edition,
The Mississippi Enterprise ran a story with the title "Truman Signs Bill, Providing Coin Minting." The weekly newspaper was based in Jackson, Mississippi and was directed at African-Americans; it was conservative in its politics and promoted cooperation with "our White Friends."
The paper described the objective of the new coin as "to commemorate the lives and perpetuate the ideals and teachings of Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver." Such description is a direct quote from the coin's authorizing legislation and was likely presented that way in the signing's press release.
The House of Representatives had approved the amendment to the Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial Act which authorized the George Washington Carver - Booker T. Washington National Memorials Half Dollar on August 2, 1951. The Senate followed with its approval on August 27, 1951, and US President Harry S. Truman signed the bill into law on September 21, 1951. So, while it might appear that it took a little over a week for the bill's signing to "become news" in Mississippi, it was really a function of the paper's weekly publication schedule - Truman had just signed the bill when the paper published its previous issue (on September 22nd) and it likely took a day or two for a press release about the bill's signing to be distributed. (The House is on record as having received notice of Truman's signing on September 24th.)
S. J. Phillips, President of the Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial and the George Washington Carver National Monument Foundation was quoted, "the net funds from the sale of these commemorative half dollars would go toward conducting an educational program against the spread of communism among Negroes in the interest of national defense."
I've discussed Phillips' drive to fight communism before:
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946-51 George W. Carver-Booker T Washington Birth Mem. - Fighting CommunismThe article included pricing and ordering information for the coins: $3 for individual coins struck at the Philadelphia Mint, and $10 for three-coin sets with an example from Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco. It was noted that the Denver and San Francisco coins would only be available in the three-coin sets.
Phillips was a tireless promoter of his coins, and made sure to "spread the news" far and wide - especially to news outlets focused on the African-American community.
1951 George Washington Carver - Booker T. Washington Half Dollar
For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including on the BTW and GWC-BTW coins, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 07/29/2024 3:56 pm
