I made previous reference to the fact that the Booker T. Washington (BTW) Birthplace Memorial organization - sponsor of the 1946-51 BTW Birthplace Memorial coins and co-sponsor of the 1951-54 George Washington Carver - Booker T. Washington coins - went bankrupt and that it's properties were auctioned. (You can read the original post here:
1946-51 Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial - National Monument.)
I thought it was a topic that deserved a deeper dive, and so...
1946 Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial Half Dollar
The Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial ("Memorial") was chartered in January 1946 "...to establish a perpetual memorial in commemoration of the life and character of Booker T. Washington in helping the man farthest down and to that end, to erect and maintain shrines, monuments, and other similar markings at places connected with the life of Booker T. Washington, and in general, to collect and distribute historical facts and literature and mementos which would serve the general purpose of this corporation."
One of the Memorial's major accomplishments was to secure from the US Congress authorization for 5 million BTW commemorative half dollars. It used proceeds from coin sales, plus an appropriation from the Commonwealth of Virginia and other donated funds to purchase property, construct an access road, construct a "replica" BTW birth cabin - I say "replica" because it was not an accurate match to available photographs of the original cabin, even though it's said to be based on them. The Memorial also updated the original Burroughs House (James Burroughs owned and lived on the farm at the time of BTW's birth) to use for its offices and house a US Post Office and constructed/renovated/expanded an assortment of other structures on the property.
The "Birthplace Tract" (aka "The Burroughs Farm") was purchased by Sydney J. Philips in October 1945. The property was transferred to the newly-established Memorial organization for $1 in May 1946, with the Memorial assuming the mortgage on the property. It was on this tract that the Memorial constructed/renovated the buildings described above.
The Memorial expanded its holdings with the purchase of the "Saunders Tract" in October 1949. It was used as a demonstration farm for corn, wheat, tobacco and cotton plus assorted vegetables. The farm was initially worked by local African-American farmers, who were later supplemented by students of the Memorial's Trade School.
In November 1949, the Memorial purchased additional acreage from Possey L. Plabon. At that point, the Memorial achieved its largest size at ~550 acres.
By late 1954, however, the Birthplace Memorial had amassed a debt of ~$140,000 (~$1.6 million in 2023) without sufficient ongoing revenue to manage it - no new coins were to be struck and sales of coins in inventory were not meeting goals/expectations. In addition, it was not receiving a steady flow of donations.
Phillips attempted to get the US Government to take over the property and to use it to create a National Monument/Historic Site. Phillips was able to get Arthur Lewis Miller (R-NE) to introduce a bill in the House of Representatives in June 1954 that called for such action and personally wrote many letters to potential supporters across the country, but no action was taken before the 83rd Congress adjourned in December 1954.
As a result, the Memorial was out of time and was forced to declare bankruptcy and place its properties under the control of a trustee - effective January 1955. Its real estate holdings, divided into three tracts, were put up for auction in February: the Birthplace Tract (~208 acres) and the Posey Plybon Tract (~101 acres) and March - the Albert Saunders Tract (~247 acres).
As I noted in my previous post (
1946-51 Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial - National Monument, Sidney J. Phillips, with the financial assistance of Portia Washington Pittman (BTW's daughter), was able to buy back the "Birthplace Tract" with a final bid of $16,000. The purchase was recorded as being made on behalf of the Booker T. Washington National Monument Committee. Phillips served as the Committee's Chairman.
To pick up the story from there...
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1946-51 Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial - National MonumentLooking back at the Memorial, Sydney Phillips listed 50 "Facts and Accomplishments" of the Memorial over its nine-year history in
The Tribune (Roanoke, VA) in January 1955. Here are a few related to the lower-than-expected sales of the commemorative half dollars:
"29. A Report made before the Banking and Currency Committee, made in 1947 by Mr. Hull, pointed out the fact that very few commemorative coin issues had been a success. He stated that only 50 percent of the coins authorized were ordered from the mints and 42 percent of those issued to the various organizations was eventually returned to the mints to be melted down. The total number of Carver-Washington coins issued from the mints to the various banks throughout the country amount to 3,800,000. To date there has been a disposal of approximately 3,400,000, selling from 10c to $1.50 over face value. The largest number sold for 10c over face, the next largest for 50c over, and the smallest number for $1.50 over face value.
Our experience with commemorative coin sales was not unique as is indicated by the facts expressed above.
30. Negroes manifested very little interest in the development of a service memorial which was designed to perpetuate the ideals and teachings of Booker T. Washington. Organized groups and individuals purchased from two to three coins per one hundred-sold. Ninety-seven to 98 percent of the half dollars purchased were by white people. Our experience indicates that the white people were more interested in seeing the ideals and teachings of Booker T. Washington perpetuated than Negroes.
31. Many individuals and organizations felt that they could make a success of the sale of the commemorative halt dollars. Every organization and individual who attempted to promote tho sale of these half dollars eventually lost money and gave up the promotion as a most difficult program to put over."
IMO, Phillips made a damning indictment of his original target audience for the coins with these comments, but they do, nevertheless, provide some insight into the financial troubles experienced by the Memorial. I think what Phillips failed to realize was that the target market for commemorative coins is often "collectors" vs. the "general public" - and the size and makeup of the collector base needs to be considered vs. some perceived demographic extrapolation to the broader population when deriving sales forecasts. This is a mistake/failure often repeated in the modern series as well.
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial half dollar stories, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 09/06/2023 2:51 pm
