The story of Secretary of the Treasury Mellon's refusal to select
Laura Gardin Fraser's design for the 1932
Washington quarter due to his chauvinism is very likely a bit of numismatic myth vs. reality. Fraser's work might have had the backing of the Commission of Fine Arts and the George Washington Bicentennial Commission, but Mellon favored the designs of
John Flanagan for the new quarter - and blaming it on chauvinism isn't backed up by the facts.
Mellon served from March 4, 1923 through February 12, 1932 under (successively) Presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover. During that time he approved the designs of:
- the 1921 Alabama Statehood Centennial Half Dollar
- the 1922 Grant Centenary Half Dollar and Gold $1
- the 1925 Fort Vancouver Half Dollar
- the 1926 Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar
- the 1932 George Washington Bicentennial Commission Medal
- the 1928 Hawaiian (European) Discovery Sesquicentennial Half Dollar
All of which were created by female designers - the first five by
Laura Gardin Fraser. Such is not the expected behavior of a devoted male chauvinist.
Also, the idea of Mellon being a chauvinist was presented, without a documented source, by Walter Breen in his
Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins which was first published in 1987. Though Mr. Breen was an outstanding researcher and terrific author, he is also known to have created false information to support a narrative he wanted to present. The facts suggest the Mellon story might be one of these cases as no contemporary stories about chauvinism driving his selection of the quarter's designs are available. The fact that many have chosen to "run" with Breen's undocumented assertion does not make it true.
For better or worse, Mellon preferred Flanagan's models, as did his successor, Secretary Mills. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder it is said, in this case the eye with the authority to make the final decision preferred something other than Fraser's design.
Personally, I hope the Treasury approves Fraser's design for the obverse of new quarters - it will be a nice change of pace after so many years with basically the same obverse design!
Posted 04/24/2021 1:24 pm
I've always liked this design, and its history is very apropos for the theme. At the end of the day, it'll just be nice to see a new obverse for our quarters.
