On May 29, 1920, Alabama Governor Thomas Erby Kilby announced the creation of a Committee to select a design for the recently-authorized Alabama Statehood Centennial Half Dollar (May 10, 1920). He made three appointments to the committee:
1) Marie Bankhead Owen (Mrs. Thomas M. Owen) who was to serve as the Committee Chair. Owen was the Director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
Her late husband, Thomas McAdory Owen, was the founder and first Director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History; the Department was founded in 1901 and was the first independent State archive established in the United States ("US") - even before the National Archives (June 1934).
Owen was certainly a qualified individual from the "Alabama History" perspective.
2) William T. Sheehan who at the time was the Editor of the
Montgomery Advertiser newspaper. As the guiding voice of a newspaper that reported on Alabama's history and biggest current events, Sheehan was qualified to provide a "factual history" perspective.
3) Dr. Charles Stakely -a respected clergyman in Montgomery, Alabama who was serving as a Baptist Pastor in Montgomery at the time. He brought the conservative religious perspective to the panel - no one wanted any religious outrage over the coin's designs!
Governor Kilby thought it would be a simple exercise to select a design, believing the task would be completed within a week. It took a bit longer, however, with initial design proposals being rejected by the Commission of Fine Arts ("CFA"). Ultimately, the then-and-now conjoined portraits of Alabama's Governors George Kilby and William Bibb paired with a rendition of the Alabama State Seal was selected and accepted.
For more on an early design proposal by the Committee, see:
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Quick Bits #08 - Monroe-Wilson Alabama Half DollarA design featuring Governor Kilby selected by a Committee appointed by Governor Kilby? A potential "Thank You!" from the Committee?
1921 Alabama Statehood Centennial Half Dollar - Plain Variety
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more on the Alabama half dollar see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 08/22/2025 5:09 pm
