Q. David Bowers
KREIS, Henry
Born in Essen, Germany on July 27, 1899, Henry Godfrey Kreis studied sculpture in Munich with Joseph Wackerle. He came to America, worked with Paul Manship and others, and achieved renown as a sculptor and portraitist. Among his commissions for sculpture and plaques were those for the Bronx Post Office (New York City), International Magazine Building (New York City), the Erie Court House (Pennsylvania), Birth of A Nation (Fairmount Park, Philadelphia), Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial (Los Angeles), and the War Department Building, Social Security Building, and Department of Justice Building (all in Washington, D.C). As an artist for the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s he did a large marble group for a Stamford, Connecticut housing project. He was a contributor to the Magazine of Art and for many years maintained a studio in Essex, Connecticut and was a teacher at the Hartford Art School. Kreis died in Essex, Connecticut on January 21, 1963.
Commemorative credits: 1935 Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar, 1936 Robinson-Arkansas half dollar (modeled the portrait or obverse side from a sketch by Enid Bell), 1936 Bridgeport Centennial half dollar.
KRIDER, Peter L.
Born in Philadelphia in 1821, Peter L. Krider was apprenticed at the age of 14 to John Curry, a local silversmith, under whom he worked for six years. After Curry retired, Krider's indenture became the property of R&W Wilson, with which partnership he worked as a journeyman for 15 months, after which he established a four year contract with Obadiah Rich, a Boston silversmith, who sold out to Brackett, Crosby & Brown in the same city, by which time Krider was head of operations. Krider entered business on his own, and in 1859 in Philadelphia took as a partner John W. Biddle. During the Civil War Krider served in the Army and his partner ran the business. Biddle stayed with Krider until about 1870. In 1888 Krider's business was sold to August Weber. At one time Krider & Co. was said to be the largest maker of medals and tokens in the United States, a claim which undoubtedly had several challengers. The firm also produced silverware and other table utensils. After 1903 the business of Weber was continued as the Simons Brothers Company.
Peter L. Krider produced many tokens, medals, and store cards during the last half of the 19th century, most of which were unsigned and are thus difficult to attribute today. In 1874 he was involved in the restriking of 1861-dated Confederate States of America one-cent pieces from original dies made by Lovett. Krider died in Philadelphia on May 12, 1895.
Commemorative credit: 1900 Lafayette dollar (while Krider had nothing to do with this coin, Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber copied Krider's 1881 Yorktown Centennial medal portrait of Washington and Lafayette for the obverse motif).
LAMB, Robert
Robert Bennett Lamb was born on May 25, 1922, in Cranston, Rhode Island, the son of Leon B. and Edith M. (Alden) Lamb. Following education in Cranston public schools he graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point in 1944, from the Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1952, and from Cornell University with a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1954. He also taught in each of the schools in which he studied art and later conducted private classes in drawing, 1957-1975.
Robert Lamb has exhibited in numerous East Coast shows including at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art and galleries in Providence, Boston, and Rockport (Massachusetts). Among his works displayed elsewhere are a bronze relief for the Navy Memorial in Washington, D. C. and a seven-foot diameter granite relief carving for the United States Trust Company, New York City. He and his wife, the former Myrna Barenboim, have two children, Ariela and Nechama. The sculptor maintains his studio in Lincoln, Rhode Island, where he specializes in sculpture and lettering.
Commemorative credits: 1991-W Mount Rushmore $5 (reverse; model done by William C. Cousins from Lamb' s design), 1991 USO anniversary silver dollar (obverse; model done by William C. Cousins from Lamb's design).
LATHROP, Gertrude K.
Born in Albany, New York on December 24, 1896, the daughter of Ida Pulis Lathrop (painter; 1859-1937), Gertrude K. Lathrop studied under Solon H. Borglum, at the Art Students League, and under Charles Grafly at the School of American Sculpture (New York). Her sculpture work included com-missions for the Houston Public Library (Texas), Albany Public Library, Memorial Grove (Albany), and the Smithsonian Institution.
In 1933 she received the Huntington Award from the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, just one of many honors bestowed upon her during her career. Gertrude K. Lathrop exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair, and in 1963 at the Woodmere Art Gallery (Philadelphia) she shared a joint exhibit with her sister Dorothy (born 1891; a painter and printmaker who also wrote and illustrated children's books).
Gertrude Lathrop's works are in many collections including the Houston (Texas) Public Library, Albany Public Library, New York State Teachers College, Smithsonian Institution, Memorial Grove (war memorial, Albany), Brookgreen Gardens (South Carolina), Hispanic Society of America (1950, New York), and the Mariners' Museum (Newport News, Virginia). In 1970 her address was Falls Village, Connecticut.
Commemorative credits: 1936 Albany half dollar, 1938 New Rochelle half dollar.
LEWIS, John Frederick
John Frederick Lewis, born in Philadelphia on September 10, 1860, was known as a patron of the arts, not as an artist, but he did create the design for a commemorative coin. A lawyer by profession, Lewis was a numismatist, antiquarian, and rare book collector. He served on the Art Jury of Philadelphia and with the American Academy of Music, the Archaeological Society of Philadelphia, and other organizations and was involved in the planning for the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition. Lewis died in Philadelphia on December 24, 1932. His son, John Frederick Lewis, Jr. (1899-1965), was also well known as a Philadelphia art patron and civic leader.
Commemorative credit: 1926 Sesquicentennial of American Independence half dollar (he furnished design ideas to John R. Sinnock, who made the models).