American Legion Medal - School Award

This is an American Legion School Award from 1922, with soldiers pictured and For God and Country and Semper Fidelis written on the front. It is bronze, 3” inches in diameter, and in very good condition (one tiny dark spot on back of medal--see photo). It was made by the Medallic Art Co., NY (see photo of medal’s edge). It has not been inscribed or personalized in any way. It belonged to, and was always in the possession of, a person who was born in 1918.Here is how the medal is described online ( /american-legion-school-award.php ):The American Legion School Awards Program started in Pennsylvania in 1922. The Legion early on established the promotion of Americanism as a primary tenet of the organization. It currently lists three objectives for the School Award Medal Program. 1Place emphasis on the development of the qualities of Courage, Honor, Leadership, Patriotism, Scholarship Develop those ideals of Americanism among young people which will make them citizens of the highest type. Give recognition through the award of American Legion School Award Medals to the boy and to the girl who are deemed most worthy of the high qualities of citizenship and of true Americanism.Figure 2: The reverse of the original American Legion School Award.The School Award program started small in the Department of Pennsylvania. It was planned as an award to the best all-around boy in the graduating class of every grammar school in the state where there were at least ten male graduates. Dr. Robert Tait McKenzie (1867-1938) was selected to design the medal. He was a noted sculptor and World War I veteran. He wrote one of the first books on physical therapy for the rehabilitation of veterans from war wounds. He was then chair of the Department of Physical Education at the University of Pennsylvania and a Legionnaire. A contemporary Legionnaire wrote ”After many suggestions and conflicting ideas he produced the beautiful medal which was adopted. To satisfy the Marines, their motto ” Semper Fidelis ,” was placed at the feet of the soldier and sailor.” 2The medal is bronze, three-inches in diameter (Figure 1) and struck by the Medallic Art Company (MACo). The legend FOR GOD & COUNTRY are the first four words of the preamble of the American Legion Constitution and a sailor and the soldier are seen straddling a seascape to the left blending into a French landscape on the right. The colophon of R. Tait McKenzie’s initials is just above 1922 in the triangle formed by the combatants’ rear feet. At the base are the words SEMPER FIDELIS .

United States

1922

Bronze

2.5 in

Plain

2022-03-24 12:34:27

2022-03-24 12:34:27