George Washington Carver / Booker T. Washington 1951 Silver Half Dollar
Designer: Isaac Scott Hathaway. Hathaway was the first Black artist whose work was produced by the US Mint.
Born into slavery, George Washington Carver became a famous agricultural scientist and inventor. He identified many alternative uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes and soybeans, and he helped Black farmers transition from growing cotton to alternative crops.
Booker T. Washington was a former slave who became a famous author, educator and orator. Washington served as an advisor to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. He founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now known as Tuskegee University. He believed economic self-reliance was the best way for Black people to eventually achieve equality.
Marian Anderson 1978 Bronze Medal
Designer: Frank Gasparro
Marian Anderson was a renowned contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the 20th century, who was invited to sing at the White House, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and at the Metropolitan Opera, in each case a first for a Black person. The 1939 Lincoln Memorial performance was facilitated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and the NAACP after the Daughters of the American Revolution denied her an opportunity to sing at Constitution Hall because she was a Black woman.
Joe Louis 1982 Bronze Medal
Designers: Michael Iacocca( obverse); David Redmond, a high school student and design contest winner, and Edgar Steever( reverse)
Joe Louis, the“ Brown Bomber,” was the second Black world heavyweight boxing champion, holding the title from 1937 to 1949, and is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. His 1938 defeat of the German boxer Max Schmeling not only avenged his only loss to that point, but delivered a stinging defeat of Hitler’ s myth of Aryan supremacy. Louis was also instrumental in integrating the sport of golf, breaking the color barrier in 1952 by competing in the inaugural San Diego Open, a PGA tour event, through a sponsors exemption.
Jesse Owens 1988 Bronze Medal
Designer: T. James Ferrell
Jesse Owens was the first American track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympiad, at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. His historic performance disproved Hitler’ s myth of Aryan supremacy. Known as the“ Buckeye Bullet,” Owens became the first Black male captain of an Ohio State University varsity team. He set three world records and tied in a fourth at a championship meet within 45 minutes.
www. MoAF. org | Winter 2017 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 21