"Americanism." It's a term included among the inscriptions on the reverse of the 1951-54 George Washington Carver - Booker T Washington (GWC-BTW) Memorials Half Dollars. But what exactly does it mean?
"Exactly" is going to be tough, but, in general terms, it could be considered American Patriotism.
In a 1915 address delivered to a Knights of Columbus group, former US President Theodore Roosevelt stated "Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States."
When it was founded in 1919, the American Legion included "Americanism" in the Preamble to its constitution as a guiding principle: "to foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism." Loyalty to, and support of, the United States were important ideologies for the organization.
How does the Legion view it today? From its web site: "What is Americanism? Americanism is an unfailing love of country; loyalty to its institutions and ideals; eagerness to defend it against all enemies; individual allegiance to the flag; and a desire to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and posterity."
In some ways, Americanism is an opposing position vs. Communism - it stands for individual freedoms vs. government control of the people. So, having the term featured on a coin whose net proceeds were to be used to fight the spread of communism among African-Americans seems appropriate.
As he worked on early design concepts for the GWC-BTW coin, Isaac Scott Hathaway featured the American Legion Seal as part of the coin's reverse design. It seemed an appropriate symbol for the coin as the American Legion stood staunchly against communism and elements of its emblem are meant to be symbolic of Americanism. (Hathaway's early designs were not accepted, however, and were changed to what is seen on the coin,)
In October 1951, the American Legion held its National Convention in Miami, Florida. Prior to the Convention's General Meeting, Sidney J Phillips, President of the Booker T Washington Birthplace Memorial, met with the Legion's Executive Committee. During the meeting, he presented details of the "campaign against communist infiltration among Negroes" and how the soon-to-be-released George Washington Carver - Booker T Washington Memorials Half Dollar was to help finance the effort. It's not hard to imagine that Phillips was seeking a formal acknowledgement of the GWC-BTW Half Dollar by the American Legion to help spur coin sales.
(Note: At the time, the American Legion emblem was no longer being considered as a design element on the coin.)Fighting the spread of communism was top-of-mind in the United States in the years following World War II, and the American Legion was a very vocal supporter of the spread of democracy and the fight against communism.
During one of the Convention's discussions of communism and the American people, it was stated:
"They will see that the enemy must be met and beaten not only on the military front, but--most important--on the ideological front and the spiritual front.
"When all the American people realize that, they will have done with talk of "containment" and "limited objectives" and "peaceful co-existence."
"They will realize that the only possible answer to communism is total resistance aimed at its total destruction."While the topic of fighting communism was discussed at many points during the Convention, using the GWC-BTW Memorials Half Dollar as a tool in the fight was apparently not one of them. As such, no national endorsement or nationwide sales campaign by the American Legion was forthcoming. Phillips' battle-against-communism coin would have to go it alone.
1951 GWC-BTW Memorials Half Dollar
For more of my topics on commemorative coins and medals, including more stories about the GWC-BTW Memorials coin, see:
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Posted 02/11/2025 09:17 am
