Commems Collection Classic: 1946-51 Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial - Artistic License

I recently started a thread over in the "Post Yours" area that called for coin/medals/tokens that depict an "Arch". (Post Your Coin, Token Or Medal Depicting An Arch)

I was planning to post a Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial half dollar along with an "artistic license" story about the coin in the thread, but IndianGoldEagle posted a very nice example of the coin before I had my story ready. So, rather than duplicate the coin in that thread, I decided to post the story here in the US Commemorative coins forum...

Booker T. Washington ("BTW") was elected to the Hall of Fame ("HoF") for Great Americans in 1945. His bronze bust was dedicated in May 1946 and installed in the open-air colonnade that was - at the time - part of the New York University ("NYU") campus outside the Gould Memorial Library. (Brooklyn Community College acquired the Hall of Fame from NYU in March 1973 when it purchased the campus.) African-American artist/sculptor Richmond Bathe created the sculpture of BTW.

The HoF for Great Americans was opened in May 1901. Initially, those elected were honored with bronze plaques. After a few years, however, it was decided to install a sculpted bronze bust of each elected member. Today, there are 96 busts on display - with space for 102 - four electees did not have busts created due to financial issues, and two were removed (General Robert E. Lee and General Stonewall Jackson) for socio-political reasons in 2017.

On the half dollar, the HoF colonnade is depicted with curved-top archways. This is an example of artistic license being used by the coin's designer - Isaac Scott Hathaway. He likely used such a design for aesthetic reasons - the use of graceful curved arches vs. the squared off openings of reality to highlight the individual niches. Compare the coin with the early photograph of the HoF and Library(below):

1946 Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial Half Dollar




[New York University library, School of Languages and Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York, NY - Now part of Brooklyn Community College


Unfortunately, the last election for the HoF was held in 1976 with no current plans for additional elections. The HoF is currently closed for repairs and restoration.


For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more Booker T. Washington half dollar stories, see: Commems Collection