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Hudson - Fulton Celebration Commemorative Medal
Hudson - Fulton Celebration Commemorative Medal
Hudson - Fulton Celebration Commemorative Medal

Hudson - Fulton Celebration Commemorative Medal

Maker
Maker
Period1909
MediumBronze
Dimensions0.19 × 2.44 in. (0.5 × 6.2 cm)
SignedThe medal is signed by the artist Emil Fuchs twice, once on the obverse at the lower right and once on the reverse also at the lower right. In addition, the medal is stamped "Whitehead - Hoag" along the rim edge.
ClassificationsThe Robert Hartshorne World War I Collection
Credit LineGift of Mary Minturn Adams in memory of her Hartshorne Ancestors, 2018
Object number2018.10.20.20
DescriptionA circular medal of struck bronze in low-relief style. On the obverse, three draped allegorical female figures are depicted seated in front of columns. The central figure holds a model of Fulton's ship, the Clermont, on her lap; the figure at left holds an anchor, while the female at right holds a large piece of paper, possibly a navigational map or blueprint, across her lap. Above the figures in a wreathed cartouche is a portrait of Robert Fulton with the inscription "ROBERT FULTON / 1765 - 1815" below the wreath. Below the seated figures is the inscription "FIRST USE OF STEAM IN NAVIGATION / OF THE HUDSON RIVER / 1807. On the medal's reverse, Henry Hudson is depicted, wearing the baggy breeches of the early 1600s, leaning on the railing of his ship the Half Moon, surrounded by other sailors. In the background can be glimpsed a coastal landscape, possibly the entrance to the Hudson River. Encircling the edge of the medal is the inscription "DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER BY HENRY HUDSON / A.D. MDCIX / THE AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOCIETY / HUDSON - FULTON / CELBRATION COMM / HALVE MAENE."
Curatorial RemarksThe Hudson-Fulton Celebration was held from 25 September to 9 October 1909 in New York and New Jersey and marked the 300th anniversary of the discovery of the Hudson River by Henry Hudson and the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton's first successful commercial use of the paddlewheel steamboat. The Celebration was marked with numerous parades, exhibitions, and other special events. Among much else, replicas of both the Half Moon and the Clermont were produced and sailed up the Hudson River during the celebrations. In addition, Wilbur Wright flew his plane around the Statue of Liberty to the delight of onlookers. The Celebration Commission included numerous influential citizens including J. P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie. The year before the celebrations commenced, the American Numismatic Society tapped sculptor, portrait artist and medallist Emil Fuchs to produce a design for a commemorative medal. Emil Fuchs was born in Austria and lived in London. He visited New York for several winter seasons beginning in 1905, painting portraits of the city's elite. Once Fuchs completed a plaster model, the Celebration Commission accepted the design, formally adopting the medal as the official medal of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration. The medal was offered in silver, bronze, aluminum, and white metal in a variety of sizes. Approximately 124,698 medals were struck, which made Fuchs' medal one of the largest issues of a single medal ever created. The Newark firm of Whitehead and Hoag was selected to produce the medal. The New Jersey company was founded in 1892 by Benjamin S. Whitehead (1858 - 1940) and his partner Chester R. Hoag (1860 - 1953). Hoag, who was born in Pennsylvania, moved to Newark in 1886 and met Whitehead while working as a twine salesman. The two men formed a partnership that would quickly become the largest manufacturer of buttons in the world. The Association has two other Whitehead and Hoag products: a souvenir medal made for the Russian Bazaar of 1916 (accession number 2018.10.20.18) and a 1917 New York Military Census badge (accession number 2018.10.20.33).NotesThis medal was collected by Robert Hartshorne during his service in the First World War. Hartshorne joined the American Red Cross in 1916. His association with that organization apparently put him in touch with the American Committee for Devastated France, which intended to introduce modern American farming methods in those battlefield areas heavily damaged near Rheims. Hartshorne arrived in France in May of 1918 and returned to the United States at the end of December the same year. Hartshorne collected numerous medals, uniform insignia, and souvenirs commemorating his time abroad. For a more complete biography of Robert Hartshorne, please see the portrait miniature of Robert Hartshorne (accession number 2018.10.9).
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