SOM#071, Margaret Grigor, Alaska - Hawaii, 1965

From the collection of John Birks

Number Issued: 909 Bronze

FROM THE ARTIST

Since it will be many years before either of our newest states, Alaska and Hawaii, will be able to celebrate an anniversary of statehood important enough to warrant the striking of a medal, I felt that I wanted to celebrate their addition to the Union. To me the most interesting characteristic of both new states is that each has brought into our country a new and different culture and way of life. This has happened in the past, when various nationalities have brought their cultures to this country as immigrants. But Alaska and Hawaii have been accepted in their entirety – peoples, cultures, and areas intact. For this reason I have represented Alaska with Eskimos, Hawaii with Polynesians.

Unfortunately, I have not yet visited Alaska, so have had to depend on research and information from friends who live in that state for the details in my design. For instance, winter parkas are worn beltless, and with the fur inside. The fish is a tomcod, a small salt water fish frequently caught through the ice. The man in the background is chopping ice cakes for a house.

I have been to Hawaii, and my design is based on two color slides I took in Ulu Mau Village in Honolulu. One lady is grinding poi, while the other mends a floor mat. This village, while not a real original landmark, has been set up by a non-profit organization both as a tourist attraction and to teach present-day Hawaiians the skills of their ancestors. The people who work here are modern, but they demonstrate the old way of life, done in the authentic manner.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Margaret C. Grigor was born in Forres, Scotland, and was brought to this country by her American mother at the age of two and a half. She has lived since that time in various parts of the United States. Her interest in art has been life-long, but her preference for sculpture developed while she was attending Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, Massachusetts. After her graduation there, she attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in Philadelphia, studying under Walker Hancock, who taught her the techniques of designing a medal on her first commission, the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Medal. She was awarded the William Emlen Cresson Travelling Fellowship while at the Academy, and also attended the summer school at Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, studying under Albert Laessle.

In 1942 she joined the WAAC, later the WAC, and served in that organization until 1946, when she moved to New York and returned to sculpture. Most of her commissions have been in the medallic field, including the American Medical Association’s Medal, awarded to the outstanding general practitioner of the year; the Garvan Medal, awarded to the year’s outstanding woman scientist; the Rickey Medal, awarded by the American Society of Civil Engineers; the John P. Illges Medal, awarded by the American Camellia Society; the Commercial Solvents Award, of the American Society of Bacteriologists; plaques for the American Transit Safety Award, the American Society of Traffic Engineering Award, and the Air Safety Award. She has also designed medals for schools and colleges, and several memorial portrait plaques. She has exhibited her work extensively in both Philadelphia and New York, as well as in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. When working in the round, she tends toward varying degrees of stylization of the human figure.

She is a member of the National Sculpture Society, the American Artists’ Professional League, the National Association of Women Artists, and the Lakewood Artists, in Tacoma, Washington.