The Statue of Freedom Medal

By Nicholas Lombardi
P.O. Box 1005, Mountainside, NJ  07092

Over the years the Society has created a number of awards to recognize those who have crafted exceptional exhibits of various aspects of United States philately.  The Walter W. Hopkinson Trophy was established in 1954 to recognize the best exhibit of 20th century United States material while its sister, the Southgate Memorial Trophy, was created in 1968 to honor the best exhibit of 19th century U.S. material.  Both awards are only presented once each year at the Annual Meeting of the Society and may only be won once by any individual.  If, in the opinion of the Jury, there is not an exhibit worthy of either award at the show, the award will not be presented.  The Hopkinson and Southgate trophies represent the Society's highest levels of recognition for exhibitors.  A more detailed history of each award along with a list of winners was published in the July, 2000 edition of The United States Specialist.

	Figure 1.  Statue of Freedom Medal, gold in color and measuring 71 mm (2.8 inches) in diameter.

The Society's most visible exhibiting award, however, is the Statue of Freedom Medal, which is made available to each of the thirty some-odd national level World Series of Philately shows held each year across the country.  This award was first presented on February 14, 1982, at SARAPEX in Sarasota, Florida, to Henry M. Gobie for his exhibit "U.S. Parcel Post-A Postal History, 1913-1925."  At that time the award consisted of a certificate with the name of the winner and the exhibition along with an intaglio green print of the "Statue of Freedom" atop the Capital Building.  In 1984, the gold medal which we are familiar with today (Figure 1) was created by Earle Plyler and was presented along with the certificate.  Over the years, the certificate was eliminated and the award became known as the Statue of Freedom Medal.

Today, the Statue of Freedom Medal is presented to the best exhibit of U.S. material from 1847 to the present at a particular WSP show, although it is not always awarded if, in the Jury's opinion, there is not an exhibit deserving of it.  The chosen exhibit must receive at least a Vermeil medal although the recipient need not be a USSS member.  This is certainly no easy task given today's high level of competitive exhibiting.

The Society's Officers and Board of Governors wish to extend their congratulations to the following exhibitors who have won the Statue of Freedom Medal during the exhibiting season just completed (July, 2001 through June, 2002) and to thank them for helping to promote the Society's goal of "Know Your Country's Stamps."