Q. David Bowers
"Miss Williams was principal of the Girls' School of the House of Refuge in Philadelphia when she was chosen to be the model for the goddess upon the dollar. It was with great difficulty, however, that she was prevailed upon to give sittings to the artist. Only upon condition that-her identity should not be revealed would Miss Williams consent to pose.
"For two years the incognito of 'Miss Liberty,' the woman's face on the dollar, remained a secret in the keeping of the government arid the artist. A Philadelphia newspaperman revealed the Miss Williams was the "Silver Dollar Girl." Thencame offers of stage. engagements, all of which Miss Williams rejected. She consented, for $60 a month, to teach at the House of Refuge until she accepted, in 1891, the position of teacher of kindergarten philosophy in the Girls' Normal School.
"The story of how Miss Williams came to be the model has not been told often. She was besieged for the story many times, but in later years she smilingly referred to it as "an incident of my youth," and preferred to talk of her work in the kindergarten schools of the city which she supervised.
"Miss Williams was born in Philadelphia. Her mother was a Southerner, the daughter of Dr. Arthur N. Willess of Maryland. His daughter married Henry Williams of Philadelphia and went with him to that city.
"When she became the model, Miss Williams' complexion was fair, her eyes blue, her nose Grecian and her hair, which was almost her crowning glory, was of golden color, abundant in quantity and light of texture. It was worn in a becoming soft coil."
The Year 1896 in History
The Supreme Court sustained a Louisiana law furthering racial segregation and issued the doctrine that states could provide blacks with "separate but equal" educational, trans-portation, and other public facilities and services. This doctrine would remain in effect in the South for over a half century, until overturned in 1954. Justice John Harlan protested by stating that "the Constitution is color-blind." The Mormon Church renounced polygamy, paving the way for Utah's admission to the Union as the 45th state, which occurred on January 4, 1896.
At the Democratic National Foundation meeting held on July 8, William Jennings Bryan gave his famous Cross of Gold
Speech, stating that if cities were tom down they would spring up again as if by magic, but if farms were torn down, grass would grow in the city streets, concluding with the ringing statement, "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown on thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." Riding on lie platform of free and unlimited coinage of silver, Bryan was swept into the Democratic nomi-nation for president.
William McKinley, governor of Ohio, gained the Republican nomination and in November won the election. The defeat of the Silverites was a body blow to the most important political issue of the era, but the movement lived on to play a diminished but still important part in the 1900 election, In connection with the contest, a spate of silver, lead, and other tokens and medals appeared. Bearing political slogans, usually for or against silver and/or the 16 to 1 ratio with gold, these became known as "Bryan money" and formed a new area of collecting interest.
On August 17, gold was discovered in the Klondike region of Alaska, setting off a new gold rush (beginning early in 1897) which would last for the next several years. Seattle, Washington was the prime staging area for entrepreneurs going north, Later, in 1909, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held in Seattle was based on the gold rush theme. On April 25, 1896, Bennett Avenue and much of the commercial district of Cripple Creek, Colorado was destroyed by fire. By year's end, the town would be mostly rebuilt.
The first Frank Merriwell novel, by Burt L. Standish (nom de plume of William Gilbert Patten), Prank Merriioell; or First Days at Faruiell; was published and was the first of Over 500 such stories, .intended mainly for boys.' At one point, Merriwell's adventures sold at the rate of 125,000 copies per week. On April 23, 1896, motion pictures were projected to a paying audience at Koster & Bial's Music Hall in New York City, an event marked by many historians as the first such exhibition in America (but see 1895); Tootsie Rolls were marketed by confectioner Leo Hirschfield, who named the paper-wrapped candy after his young daughter, Clara, who was nicknamed Tootsie. In Chi-cago, Cracker Jack was introduced. Both Tootsie Rolls and Cracker Jack would be among the relatively few American consumer products to endure into the late twentieth century. Sperry & Hutchinson introduced S&H Green Stamps, which would be popular for many years with a small segment of the population, until they became a nationwide fad in the 1960s, only to fade after a decade of activity.
In Athens, Greece the first modern Olympic Games were held. Among the contestants was Robert Garrett, son of numismatist T. Harrison Garrett.