Commemorative Half Dollar Coin Featuring George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington, 1953

Sculptor Isaac Hathaway's artistic goal was to showcase the achievements of African-Americans. He was the first African-American commissioned to design US coins. This coin, struck in 1952, features profiles of scientist George Washington Carver and educator Booker T. Washington; the reverse shows a US map and the words "Americanism: freedom and opportunity for all." Hathaway had worked with Carver and Washington at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.