Woodrow Wilson Presidential Inaugural Medal

Darrell Clayton Crain, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Inaugural Medal, 1917, gold, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James F. Dicke Family, 2010.64.3
Copied Darrell Clayton Crain, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Inaugural Medal, 1917, gold, 2 in. (5.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James F. Dicke Family, 2010.64.3

Artwork Details

Title
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Inaugural Medal
Artist
Date
1917
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
2 in. (5.1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the James F. Dicke Family
Mediums Description
gold
Classifications
Keywords
  • Occupation — political — president
  • Portrait male — Wilson, Woodrow
  • Ceremony — civic — inauguration
Object Number
2010.64.3
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2010.64.3

Artwork Description

The threat of American involvement in World War I and the high cost war would entail led the 1917 Inaugural Committee to cut back on the number of medals produced to commemorate President Wilson's second inauguration. R. Harris and Company struck only three gold medals, one silver (for the artist), and an unknown quantity of bronze medals, which the committee did not authorize. Designer Darrell Crain's medal shows President Wilson soberly in profile, an expression well suited to the international situation he and the country faced. The committee members later wrote that Crain's medals were "beautiful in both design and character, and the work of the artist well merited our recommendation." (Neil MacNeil, The President's Medal, 1789-1977, 1977)