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Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee Public Meeting Thursday, April 13 2006 United States Mint 801 9th Street, NW 8th Floor Washington, DC Participants (via teleconference): John Alexander Bill Fivaz Ute Wartenberg Kagan Rita Laws Mitch Sanders (chair) Donald Scarinci Ken Thomasma S. Joseph Winter The chair called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM. The committee unanimously approved the minutes of the February 28, 2006 CCAC meeting. The committee then proceeded to a review and discussion of proposed artist narratives for the reverses of the 2007 First Spouse coins and medals. The reverse design of each First Spouse issue will carry a design emblematic of the individual’s life and work. Cynthia Meals Vitelli of the United States Mint explained that the narratives were developed after consultation between Sales and Marketing of the United States Mint, the United States Mint’s Historian, and the White House Historical Association. For Martha Washington, the committee voted unanimously to recommend that the second narrative should be removed or replaced because of concerns about misplaced emphasis given the historical record, and that “To help further the goals of the new democracy” should be stricken from the third narrative. For Abigail Adams, the committee voted to unanimously endorse the three presented narratives. Because Thomas Jefferson did not have a spouse during his time in office, the reverse of the Jefferson issue is to carry an image emblematic of President Jefferson’s life and work. The committee voted unanimously to endorse the three presented narratives. For Dolley Madison, the committee voted to unanimously endorse the three presented narratives. The committee then discussed a revised procedure for preparing the CCAC’s Annual Report. Chairman Sanders moved the following: 1) The sections of the report describing the CCAC’s membership and recounting the CCAC’s activities will be prepared by the chair and presented to the entire committee for endorsement, approval, or modification. 2) For the sections of the report concerning the CCAC’s recommendations for future commemorative coins, the previous year’s report will be used as a baseline. Committee members may propose changes at a public meeting, and such proposals will be adopted if supported by a majority of the committee. 3) The chair will prepare a final version of the report, soliciting input as necessary from others on the committee. The committee voted unanimously to adopt this procedure for its Annual Report. After a discussion of the CCAC’s upcoming meeting schedule, the meeting was adjourned at 11:20 AM. United States Mint 2007 First Spouse Bullion Coin Narratives Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee Public Meeting, April 13, 2006 Martha Dandridge Custis Washington 1) During the Revolutionary War, her concern for the colonial soldiers earned her their lasting respect and admiration. She is known to have organized sick wards and persuaded the society ladies of Morristown to roll bandages from their fine napkins and tablecloths, as well as to repair uniforms for the poorly equipped Continental soldiers. Her presence in the encampments of the Continental Army was an example to other officer’s wives and a significant factor in lifting the morale of her husband’s tired, cold and hungry troops. 2) As a widow, before she married George Washington, Martha managed the affairs of a very large Virginia estate. In a letter to a young niece, Martha strongly advised the woman to depend only on herself for her well-being, stating “…there are very few people who can manage more than their own business…” and to “keep all your matters in order yourself.” She and husband George often discussed politics and military matters and her advice was important to him. 3) To help further the goals of the new democracy, Martha shared her husband’s belief that the Presidency must never become a monarchy in the eyes of the people. While living in New York during President Washington’s first term, Martha Washington began a tradition that would last for more than 100 years, until the 1930s – that of opening the doors of the President’s home to the public on New Year’s Day. Abigail Smith Adams 1) Abigail Smith was born into a prosperous, well-known and politically active family in Massachusetts. Her grandfather served in both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and on the State’s Supreme Court. Although she would describe her early education as lacking, Abigail was schooled at home in the libraries of her father and grandfather, studying such topics as mathematics, philosophy and economics, preparing her with the education she would need for the life she shared with her husband. Throughout their marriage she was his sounding board, often a source of ideas and a calming influence on her husband. 2) Abigail married attorney John Adams in 1764 at the age of 20. Because of John’s commitment to the cause of colonial independence, the couple was often separated for lengthy periods of time – she in Massachusetts, and he in Philadelphia. Letters they wrote to each other during the Revolution and the formation of the United States are a mirror of the intellectual vigor of the times. He himself acknowledged that she had as much political insight as any of his colleagues, and that he valued her counsel above all others, combined with the affection and loyalty of her friendship. 3) While John Adams was serving in Philadelphia as a delegate to the first Continental Congress, Abigail remained in Massachusetts, rearing the couple’s four children and managing the family’s farm and other financial interests. When war broke out in 1775, Abigail witnessed the nearby Battle of Bunker Hill. Fired by the spirit of revolution, she brought forth some of the family’s personal tableware and gave it to be melted in the manufacture of ammunition for the ill-equipped Continental soldiers. Thomas Jefferson (no spouse while President) 1) Thomas Jefferson is widely recognized for his unmatched expertise with the written word. Even in death, Jefferson left no room for interpretation, leaving careful and precise instructions detailing exactly which words would mark his final resting place. It reads: “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and Father of the University of Virginia.” 2) No building is more closely identified with our third President than Monticello, the home in Charlottesville, Virginia that he personally designed. A skilled draftsman and horticulturist, Jefferson designed every detail of the magnificent red-brick mansion, introducing many architectural concepts, such as skylights, that he first encountered while serving abroad as an American diplomat. His meticulous planning included the placement of trees and the construction of various gardens and ponds throughout the grounds of the estate. 3) In his later years, after leaving the Presidency, Jefferson devoted a significant amount of his time to the founding of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. Jefferson believed the college experience should take the form of an academic village. Central to this design theme was the University’s library, or Rotunda, whose dome shape was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Jefferson was able to watch the progress of the construction at the University from a telescope at Monticello. The University opened in March of 1825, more than a year before Jefferson’s death on July 4th, 1826. Dolley Payne Todd Madison 1) Thanks in part to her experiences as a Congressional wife and hostess for events during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, Dolley Madison enjoyed the spotlight of political life. She was charming and outgoing and able to converse with confidence on a wide variety of topics. She developed a charismatic role for future First Ladies. Because she was not stuck inside the day-to-day political operations of the new government, she could appear to the American public and European observers as a larger-than-life embodiment of our Nation. It was Dolley Madison who, in 1809, presided over the first Inaugural Ball. 2) In what was no doubt her single most famous act as First Lady, Dolley Madison was forced to flee the White House in advance of oncoming British troops in August of 1814. She was busy overseeing the preparation of an elaborate dinner for the President, a dinner that was thoroughly enjoyed by British soldiers just prior to setting the mansion ablaze. In an act of unmatched patriotism, Dolley Madison managed to save the Cabinet papers and the beautiful Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, which, thanks to her heroic efforts, still hangs in the East Room of the White House today. 3) Even before her husband James was elected fourth President of the United States, Dolley Madison was well known in Washington, D.C., often serving as hostess in Thomas Jefferson’s White House. During her social events, legislators, officials and their families learned to work together in bi-partisan ways. Throughout her many years in the city, Dolley often set aside certain mornings for personal visits to the city’s poorest areas in an effort to promote literacy. In 1815, her concern for the state of the city’s Orphans Asylum prompted her to form an association among the ladies of Washington aimed at raising money to help build a new facility.
