Commems Collection Classic: 1935 Connecticut Tercentenary - P W A Or P W A P?

This is a story that has long intrigued me, but one that has eluded a definitive conclusion. It's the story of the 1935 Connecticut Tercentenary Half Dollar and either the Public Works Administration (PWA) or the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP).

In 1938, the American Numismatic Society (ANS) published Numismatic Notes and Monographs, No.83 - aka The Commemorative Coinage of the United States 1892-1938. The volume was the work of David Bullowa; it was an update to Howland Wood's volume - Commemorative Coinage of the United States - that was published by the ANS in 1922.

When discussing the Connecticut half dollar, Bullowa stated:

"It is interesting that although the [coin's] Act specifically states that the Government shall not pay for the expenses of the designing of the models, it did finance this as a Public Works Administration project."

This assertion has been repeated in one form or another by multiple US commemorative coin reference works ever since. But is it accurate?

The foreunner of the Public Works Administration (PWA) was created in June 1933 via the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA); it was part of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal" programs to help the US recover from the economic depression. (The PWA's original name, as specified in NIRA, was the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works.) Its mission was to create jobs via the construction of roads, bridges, dams, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals, housing projects, courthouses and other Federal buildings - i.e., infrastructure. It was not set up to manage art projects.

In December 1933, the first Federal art project was created - the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP); it was also part of Roosevelt's "New Deal." The PWAP was designed to create meaningful work for unemployed artists across all media (i.e., painters, sculptors, designers, graphic artists, etc.) to "decorate" public buildings and parks. The PWAP "funded 3,750 artists who produced 15,600 artworks, at a cost of $1,312,000." (Brown, Elizabeth. Introduction, 1934: A New Deal for Artists. Kennedy, Roger D. Smithsonian American Art Museum. 2009.) The Art Project was administered by the US Treasury Department, not the PWA. Henry Kreis of Connecticut (the designer of the Connecticut Tercentenary Half Dollar and Medal) was on the artist roster of the PWAP.

An argument can be made that the evidence suggests that the PWAP was the more likely organization under which Kreis developed his designs for the Connecticut Tercentenary commemorative half dollar and medal vs. the PWA. A major wrinkle in this line of thought arises, however, when one looks a bit closer at the chronology of the coin. The Connecticut Tercentenary Half Dollar bill was signed into law on June 21, 1934 - the Public Works of Art Project was active only until May 20, 1934. Thus, it ceased operations before the half dollar was authorized.

But wait! The Connecticut Tercentenary medal was designed/developed before the half dollar and was offered for sale beginning in November 1934. This suggests that the medal project was likely initiated in the first half of 1934 - a period when the PWAP was active. Could it have been a PWAP project? Could Kreis also have been developing designs for the half dollar in anticipation of its approval?

A contemporary note in the January 1935 issue of the American Numismatic Association's The Numismatist magazine noted that Kreis designed the medal as part of a project under the "National Recovery Act" (likely an abbreviation of the "National Industrial Recovery Act" referenced above). I can't help but wonder if this reference was technically accurate or if the true sponsor - the PWAP - was being lumped into the PWA as a matter of misunderstanding or convenience. (I've encountered many such "convenience" issues in my research.)

And so, after many hours of looking into the question, I am yet to be convinced either way - PWA or PWAP? Maybe someday!

Note: The Federal Art Project (FAP) was established in August 1935, it followed the PWAP and should not be considered as the same organization, though it had related objectives. By the time it ceased operations in 1943, the larger FAP had sponsored several hundred thousand art projects.

1935 Connecticut Tercentenary Half Dollar


1935 Connecticut Tercentenary Medal



For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including other stories about the Connecticut Tercentenary, see: Commems Collection.