Selma Burke – Designer of the Roosevelt Dime
By
John C Abercrombie
Today is day 8 of 31 and features North Carolina native Selma Burke an internationally known sculptor famous for her sculptor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt 32nd president of the United States that appears on the dime.
President Jimmy Carter awarded her a woman’s Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement award in 1979. She had received an honorary doctorate from Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina in 1970. And Spellman College in 1988
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Selma Hortense Burke was a well respected sculpturer who is known as the sculpturer of the bust of Franklin Delano Roosevelt 32nd president of the United States that appears on the dime.
Burke was born December 31, 1900, in Mooresville, North Carolina. The 7th of 10 children born to Mary Jackson and Neal Burke. Her father was a Methodist minster and worked on railroads and cruise ships.
Burke developed an interest in art and sculpture at an early age while playing along a nearby riverbank. Scooping up some clay and seeing the impression of her hand in the clay and feeling elated that she could make creative items with it. This became a lifelong passion of hers. She followed this passion to the Harlem Renaissance, Parisian art studios and even to the White House. She was allowed to spend time with President Roosevelt which was used for a sculpture that is on the dime. Burke was a dedicated art teacher and one of the most notable sculptors of the twentieth century. She is quoted in the New York post in 1945. “I found that I could make something… something that I alone had created.”
Burke developed an interest in African art from a collection of African artifacts the family inherited from an uncle who had done missionary work abroad. Her father encouraged her interest in art, however, her mother encouraged her to follow a more practical career such as nursing. As a result, she attended Slater Industrial School which later became Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, graduating in 1922. Earning a nursing degree from Saint Agnes Training School in Raleigh, North Carolina graduating in 1924.
Burke then married a childhood sweetheart Durant Woodward but was widowed shortly after the marriage.
She then moved to New York City and worked as the private nurse to Amelia Waring. Waring was an heiress to the Otis Elevator empire. This led to Burke getting exposure to the arts with New York being a center of culture. She was able to socialize with artists and writers involved in the Harlem Renaissance and became close friends with the poet and novelist Claude McKay. There was speculation that they may have married, however the relationship was not of long standing.
Following the death of Waring Burke heeded the encouragement of her father and turned to sculpture. Determined to hone her craft she studied at Sarah Lawrence College paying for her classes by modeling. Sarah Lawrence is a well respected college located in Yonkers, New York. She also studied in Europe under noted artist Henri Matisse and Maillol in Paris. She returned as the threat of Nazism in Europe rose.
Back in America, she taught at youth in art under the World Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project and the Harlem Community Arts Center where the influential sculptor Augusta Savage served as her mentor.
In 1940 she opened the Selma Burke School of Sculpture. The next year, she received a scholarship and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University. That year she also held her first solo exhibit in a New York gallery.
Patriotic, when America entered World War II, she was one of the first Black women to sign up. She then worked driving a truck at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. While recuperating from a back injury she won a nationwide contest for the commission of a bronze relief portrait of President Franklin D Roosevelt.
Feeling that a photograph was inadequate to make the portrait, she requested and was granted a sitting with Roosevelt and sketched him over 2 days in February of 1944.
Roosevelt passed in 1945 and the bust was unveiled by President Harry S Truman, September 24, 1945. At first Eleanor Roosevelt did not like the portrait as it depicted her husband as a younger man than the way he looked at the time of his death. Burke explained that she rendered him as America had long remembered him. Burkes profile of Roosevelt is widely acknowledged as the basis of his image on the US dime; however, the image is officially attributed to the US Mint Chief Engraver John Ray Sinnock the 8th Chief Engraver of the US Mint, serving from 1925 to 1947.
Following the release of the Roosevelt dime a controversy arose alleging that Sinnock had copied the design of Selma Burke. Of course, Sinnock denied the claim, replying that it was a composite of studies he had made and of photographs of Roosevelt. The general consensus is that Sinnock was greatly influenced by Burke’s rendition. There are other questions about work that Sinnock has claimed as his own.
Burke described herself as “a people’s sculptor.” She worked in brass, bronze, alabaster and limestone. Her sculptures include busts of prominent Blacks including John Brown, Duke Ellington, Mary McLeod Bethune and A Phillip Randolph.
Burke was married to the architect Herman Kobbe in 1949 although he passed in 1955. They lived in an artists’ colony in New Hope, Pennsylvania. and Burke remained in Pennsylvania after his death. why She continued to emphasize art education and ran the Selma Burke Art Center in Pittsburgh from 1968 until 1981 when she was 80 years of age. Burke love instructing children about sculpture and encouraged them to touch the works in order to fully embrace and understand them. President Jimmy Carter awarded her a woman’s Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement award in 1979. She had received an honorary doctorate from Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina in 1970. And Spelman College in 1988.
Livingstone is a Historically Black College and University originally founded in 1879 as Zion Wesley Institute, the name was changed in 1887 to honor to honor African missionary David Livingstone. Currently located in Salisbury, North Carolina. The Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredit them. They currently offer the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degrees. Although majoring in chemistry, I am an alumni.
Spelman College is a Historically Black College and University part of the Atlanta University Consortium in Atlanta, Georgia. Spelman was founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary. Spelman received its collegiate charter in 1924 making it America’s oldest private historically Black liberal arts college for women.
Spelman is a well-respected institution of higher learning and has an outstanding list of alumni.
These and other HBCU’s are not exclusive to Blacks but were formed because of obstacles being used to keep Blacks out of White institutions. They are an excellent choice to consider for all.
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Our mission is to provide those historical facts that have been omitted from history. Believing that America is strong because of contributions by all groups and individuals.
In addition to the lack of information, there seems to be a campaign to promote the disenfranchisement of groups by eliminating the contributions, mistreatment and inclusion. Instead promoting negative depictions which in the absence of other information paints a highly unfavorable picture.
We provide information that exists but is not included in mainstream history. Many wonder about the validity of these stories, so we include videos to enhance the experience and books to allow you to take advantage of additional materials that have existed over time.
To those ends, the books can be purchased from our partner Amazon. It is possible to not only read about the book, but to sample them as well, read a section or listen before deciding if it is one that you like. Click on the link. Note: many of these books are available in several forms, such as hard cover or soft cover, Kindle – eBooks that can be read on your smartphone or other device free with a free download, or Audible where the books are read to you. Again, they can be delivered instantly and enjoyed on phones or other devices with a free download.
We support our work by partnering with partners who pay us a small royalty for purchases made through our links. Many of these are to products that you may find interesting, however it is not necessary to purchase that product. How do you use the links then? Many links take you to several products so feel free to look. If it is a product that you do not want, simply click on the cart and click to remove any unwanted items, then shop to your heart’s content. We both benefit from this action, since the partner pays us without cost to you and are able to provide you outstanding information. A win-win situation for both of us. We depend on your using our links and appreciate it. Make use of our links a habit anytime you shop a partner.
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Black History 365: Selma Burke
Language of this video may not be suitable for all ages
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Art Supplies
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Selma Burke Artist (Beginning Biographies)
Presents a brief biography of the artist whose clay profile of President Roosevelt was put on the U.S. dime
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How to Sculpt
A great choice for people interested in art. Click the link below
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Hidden Figures:
Selma Burke Born in 1900, Selma Burke was also a sculptor, educator, advocate, and role model for aspiring black artists. Sculpting started as child’s play for Burke. As a 7-year-old girl (and one of 10 children) digging in the dirt of her parents’ farm in Mooresville, North Carolina, Burke squeezed some wet clay through her fingers one day—and grasped a lifelong obsession. “It was there in 1907,” she later reflected, “that I discovered me.”
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Sculpture Supplies For Adults
ABH – Sculpture Supplies for Adults
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Discovering African American Art for Children (Come Look With Me)
COME LOOK WITH ME: DISCOVERING AFRICAN AMERICAN ART FOR CHILDREN introduces children to twelve magnificent works of art. The artwork presented in this book is a small representation of a very remarkable effort by African Americans in the United States during the twentieth century to portray our developing self-image as citizens who have shaped not only ourselves but have helped to develop the shape and color of all of our aspirations. ABH – Selma Burke Artist
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Sculpture Supplies for Kids
ABH – Sculpture Supplies for Kids
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Selma Burke
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Learn to Draw For Kids
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African American Art and Artists
Samella Lewis has brought African American Art and Artists fully up to date in this revised and expanded edition. The book now looks at the works and lives of artists from the eighteenth century to the present, including new work in traditional media as well as in installation art, mixed media, and digital/computer art. Mary Jane Hewitt, an author, curator, and longtime friend of Samella Lewis’s, has written an introduction to the new edition. Generously and handsomely illustrated, the book continues to reveal the rich legacy of work by African American artists, whose art is now included in the permanent collections of national and international museums as well as in major private collections.
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Learn to Draw For Adults
ABH – Learn to Draw for Adults
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Black History 365:
Selma Burke Who dat is on your dime???
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Cameras
Great for all. A wide assortment from beginner to pro
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Understanding The Connections Between Black & Aboriginal Peoples:
The Links Between African-American, Black , Native American and Indigenous Cultures (IR:: Indigenous Resistance) This book is a contemporary look at the cultural and political connections that have existed between black and indigenous peoples especially between Native Americans & African Americans. From the ancient temple site of Peru’s Machu Picchu to the shores of the Brazilian Amazon to an isolated Black Indian community in the Bolivian mountains to a meeting with Black Indian techno musicians in Detroit this is a book that mixes the ancient with the contemporary and expands the scope of the discussion of the Black Indian connection in a way not previously imagined. This is a journey reflecting research throughout North , South and Central America examining the cultural, political and spiritual consequences of what happened when African descendants met the original indigenous inhabitants of these lands.
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Warning: Language may not be suitable for young readers
Black History 365:
Selma Burke
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Black Heroes:
A Black History Book for Kids: 51 Inspiring People from Ancient Africa to Modern-Day U.S.A. (People and Events in History) You’re invited to meet ancient Egyptian rulers, brilliant scientists, legendary musicians, and civil rights activists―all in the same book! Black Heroes introduces you to 51 black leaders and role models from both history and modern times. This black history book for kids features inspirational biographies of trailblazers from the United States, Egypt, Britain, and more. Discover where in the world they lived, and what their lives were like growing up. Learn about the obstacles they faced on the way to making groundbreaking accomplishments. You’ll find out how these inspirational figures created lasting change―and paved the way for future generations.
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Selma Burke , Roosevelt Dime African American Art –
October Gallery Selma Burke , Roosevelt Dime African American Art – October Gallery Created the image that was used in the Dime. Selma Hortense Burke is one of the few African-American women sculptors who achieved a high level of national recognition during her lifetime. She received national recognition for her relief portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt which was the model for his image on the dime. She was committed to teaching art to others, so she established the Selma Burke Art School in New York City and opened the Selma Burke Art Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
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Yet another case where a person has demonstrated outstanding ability and have not gotten their due. Without research, this gem would have escaped history entirely. Revealing the facts is not critical race theory, which is a legal term and will be covered in a later post. Shunning accuracy in history is the perpetuation of fallacy which has no business to people seeking the truth.