Continuing the story from Part I...In 1899, a year after it sponsored its successful fundraising program in America's schools, the Commission sent participating schools a certificate "intended as a certificate of co-operation on your part in one of the most patriotic movements in the history of the country."
Fast forward to the approaching July 4, 1900 unveiling of the statue, and Congress steps back into the process - this time (in May-June 1900) with a Joint Resolution introduced in the Senate by Cushman Kellogg Davis (R-MN):
"Whereas the school children of the United States have, by their contributions of the sum of fifty thousand dollars, provided a statue of Lafayette, which, with the approval of the French Government, is to be unveiled at Paris, France, on the fourth day of July, nineteen hundred; and
"Whereas the United States, by an act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, appropriated the sum of fifty thousand silver dollars of the United States for the purpose of aiding in defraying the cost of a pedestal to said statue: Therefore, be it
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the people of the United States anticipate and appreciate this ceremony with feelings of the greatest satisfaction, and that they regard the statue as expressing the honor and gratitude with which they cherish the memory of Lafayette and those of his countrymen who, by their arms and counsel, assisted in securing the independence of the United States.
"Resolved further, That the President of the United States is hereby requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions to the Government of France."The Joint Resolution was signed into law by US President William McKinley on June 6, 1900.
As seen, the Joint Resolution references the involvement of America's school children in funding the Lafayette statue as well as the Lafayette Memorial Silver Dollar and its connection to the Memorial's/Monument's pedestal.
1900 Lafayette Memorial Silver Dollar
The hyperbole surrounding the count of school children who donated to the Memorial's fundraising drive not withstanding, it's nice to think about how schools and students worked together to help honor a key figure in the American Revolution and America's drive for liberty.
For more of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including other Lafayette dollar stories, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 12/02/2024 11:40 am
