Q. David Bowers
GRAHAM, Robert
Born in Mexico City on August 19,1938, Robert Graham studied at San Jose State College (California), the San Francisco Art Institute, and the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts. In the course of his work as a sculptor and designer, Graham, who became an American citizen, has traveled through England, Germany, Switzerland and elsewhere. His works have been sold through the Nicholas Wilder Gallery and the Kornblee Gallery and have been exhibited at the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Los Angeles County Museum.
His commissions have included the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial (Washington, D.C.), Crocker Bank Center (Los Angeles), Federal Reserve Bank (San Francisco), San Jose Federal Building, and the Joe Louis Memorial (Detroit). Graham designed the bronze headless figures, each measuring seven feet high, at the gateway to the Los Angeles Coliseum used for the 1984 Olympic Games. In 1989 his studio was in Venice, California.
Commemorative credit: 1984 Olympic silver dollar.
HATHAWAY, Isaac Scott
Isaac Scott Hathaway, born on April 4, 1874 in Lexington, Kentucky, studied at Chandler College (Lexington), Pittsburg College (Kansas), the Art Department of the New England Conservatory, the Cincinnati Art Academy, and the New York College of Ceramics. He was head of the Ceramics Department of the Alabama State Teachers College (Montgomery). His major works were portrait busts including those of Frederick Douglass, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Booker T. Washington. He was a member of the Ceramic Society, the Art Teachers Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Commemorative credits: 1946-1951 Booker T. Washington half dollar, 1951-1954 Carver-Washington half dollar (the models for which were revised by Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts).
HAWKINS, Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin Hawkins, born in St. Louis on June 17, 1896, studied under Victor Holm, Leo Lentilli, and Lee Lawrie. He was known for his architectural and other outdoor sculptures. His work is on view at U.S. Post Office buildings, the University of Michigan, the United States Military Academy (West Point), the Federal Building (St. Louis), Brookgreen Gardens (South Carolina), and the Milwaukee War Memorial. In 1947 his studio was located in Ossining, New York.
Commemorative credit: 1936 Wisconsin Territorial Centennial half dollar (he extensively revised the designs of David Goode Parsons).
HOFFECKER, L.W.
Born in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, on September 27, 1868, Lyman William Hoffecker's interest in coins began in later years when he was employed by the Dalton (Pennsylvania) Post Office and traded coins with local citizens. In January 1900 he moved with his wife and daughter to EI Paso, Texas, where he built a new home. Soon he was active in the construction trade in various capacities including as owner of the appropriately named LWH Door & Sash Company. Retiring from that business, he became a rare coin dealer. During the late 1920s he did business primarily by mail and specialized in coins of Mexico and the Orient in addition to those of the United States. At the same time he was in the mortgage loan and banking business.
In the late 1920s L.W. Hoffecker helped formulate a bill for the Gadsden Purchase commemorative half dollar, which passed Congress but which was vetoed by President Herbert Hoover. Although he was not an artist, L.W. Hoffecker sketched designs for the (proposed) Gadsden Purchase and Old Spanish Trail half dollars. He was the distributor of the 1935 Old Spanish Trail and 1936 Elgin half dollars. From the 1930s to the early 1950s he was associated with the Watkins Coin Co. in his numismatic trade.
Hoffecker continued as a rare coin dealer until ill health forced his retirement circa 1953. Portions of his numismatic holdings were auctioned by B. Max Mehl in November 1954 and by Superior Galleries in February 1987. "His collection included media of exchange used in all parts of the world from the 4th century B. C. to modem times," his obituary in The Numismatist (February 1955, p. 142) noted. His death occurred at the age of 86, on January 14, 1955, at his home at 1514 Montana Street, El Paso. Hoffecker joined the American Numismatic Association in 1924, served on the Board of Governors 1936-1939, and was elected president in the latter year, serving until 1941.
Commemorative credit: 1935 Old Spanish Trail half dollar (he created designs which were translated to models by sculptor Edmund J. Senn).
JONES, Elizabeth
Born in Montclair, New Jersey on May 31, 1935, Elizabeth Jones earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Vassar College in 1957, studied at the Art Students League 1958-1960, briefly at the National Academy of Design, and in Rome at the Scuola Libera del Nudo (1961) and the Scuola dell'Arte della Medaglia (receiving its diplomain 1964). For 20 years she maintained a studio in Rome and exhibited there and in other countries, winning many awards and honors. One-person shows of her medallic art included two exhibitions in Brazil (1967) and five with Tiffany & Co. in the United States (1965-1968).
Her many medallic works include the following: Albert Schweitzer (National Commemorative Society, 1966), Susan B. Anthony (Societe Commemorative des Femmes Celebres, 1967), Van der Poel and Hermann awards (1967), Charles Dickens (British Commemorative Society, 1969), Richard Wright (American Negro Commemorative Society, 1972), Walter Reed (NCS, 1972), General Campbell (International Fraternal Commemorative Society, 1973), Pablo Casals (International Numismatic Agency, 1973), Cardinal Spellman dedicatory medal (Spellman Foundation, Rome, 1973), Salute to Israel (International Numismatic Agency, 1973), Lucy Wharton Drexel gold award medal (University of Pennsylvania, 1974), Holy Year (Medallic Art Company, 1975), Year of the Woman (Food and Agricultural Organization-FAO-of the United Nations, 1975), The President's Award (The Johns Hopkins University, 1976), Nobel Prize (Sporrong Company, Stockholm, 1979), President's Annual Distinguished Visitor Medal (Vassar, 1982), Bicentennial of U.S. Anglican Episcopate (Diocese of Connecticut, 1984), Nelson A. Rockefeller Public Service Annual Award gold medal (1988), International Council of Women Centennial (FAO, 1988); the following art medals produced in Rome: La Lupa Romana (prime Minister Guillo Andreotti, 1967), Fontana di Trevi (prime Minister Guillo Andreotti, 1969), Hommage a Picasso (Stabilimento Stefano Johnson, 1972), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (SSJ, 1973), Dante Alighieri (Ravenna competition, 1975); numerous portrait medallions including a 1978 gold medallion of Pope John Paul II for the Italian government; and a commemorative bronze relief for the American University Hospital in Beirut. In 1977 the artist designed the chapel tabernacle for St. Paul's American Church in Rome.