On this day, the Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar was officially issued by the United States Mint. It was the first U.S. coin to honor an African American and the first designed by a Black artist, Isaac Scott Hathaway. The 50-cent piece featured a portrait of Booker T. Washington, a prominent educator, author, and founder of the Tuskegee Institute.
This commemorative coin was part of a broader movement to recognize Washington’s legacy and was minted from 1946 to 1951.
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