Adlai S. Hardin

Thomas Lonsdale Leeming (1837-1902) was born in England and spent his childhood in Canada. He took charge of the family's Canadian business, Thomas Leeming & Co., and began a drug import business in New York with exclusive rights to a number of pharmaceutical products. Joseph Leeming (1869-1906) and Thomas Lonsdale Leeming, Jr.(1873-1925) together with their father constituted the firm of Thomas Leeming & Co and the Montreal house of Leeming Miles & Co. They were also managers of the American house of the Swiss Nestlé Company, around 1900.  In 1961, the Thomas L. Leeming Company was sold to Pfizer.

This medal's obverse is based on figures from The Healers, an oaken bas relief Hardin created for the Stamford Hospital. Allevare Sedare Sanare roughly translates to "lighten slake cure," at least one of which every medical compound should be able to achieve.

This uniface medal's obverse bears two sculpted lips in the center, a disk above and concentric circles below. Around top, DALLAS FORT WORTH SOCIETY OF VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS; below, MEDAL AWARD

The medal has no signature or maker's mark.

This medal deserves the adjective "funky." When I showed it to my kids they all said: "Wow, what is that all about?" I like the medal for how unusual it is. The mouth probably symbolizes the "communications" aspect of the commissioning organization. The concentric circles might symbolize broadcasting and the disk at the top could be the sun from which we receive all the light that allows us to have visual arts or the eye that allows us to perceive it.

While the medal is unsigned and undated, according to Dick Johnson it is indeed designed by Hardin and struck by the Medallic Art Company. The Dallas Fort Worth Society of Visual Communications still exists under the name of Dallas Society of Visual Communications. The name on the medal was only in use briefly in the 1970s.

The medal measures approximately 88mm x 82mm and was struck by the Medallic Art Company in bronze and a white metal. No mintage is reported.

The obverse bears image of Skylab in orbit over planet Earth, stars in background. Under space laboratory, CREW / CHARLES CONRAD JR. - DR. JOSEPH P KERWIN / PAUL J WEITZ; At bottom, SKYLAB 1

The reverse bears two astronauts performing extravehicular activites over two students at planning table. In ring around, MAN'S INGENUITY CONQUERS SPACE / MAY 25 - JUNE 22 1973; in upper right, SOLAR / PANEL / REPAIR; over students, STUDENT EXPERIMENTS; signed at lower right, A - S - H / ©

The medal has maker's mark at 6:00, MEDALLIC ART CO.N.Y. BRONZE

Skylab was launched and operated by NASA and was the United States' first space station. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a weight of 169,950 pounds (77 t). Three manned missions to the station, conducted between 1973 and 1974 using the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) atop the smaller Saturn IB, each delivered a three-astronaut crew. On the last two manned missions, an additional Apollo / Saturn IB stood by ready to rescue the crew in orbit if it was needed.

The station was damaged during launch when the micrometeoroid shield separated from the workshop and tore away, taking one of two main solar panel arrays with it and jamming the other one so that it could not deploy. This deprived Skylab of most of its electrical power, and also removed protection from intense solar heating, threatening to make it unusable. The first crew was able to save it in the first in-space major repair, by deploying a replacement heat shade and freeing the jammed solar panels.

This medal is the first in a series of three to commemorate the three manned missions to Skylab. The missions numbers really are off by one because technically Skylab 1 was the unmanned launch of the lab itself. The first manned mission should really be called Skylab 2 but the official numbering scheme never stuck.

The medal measures 62mm in diameter and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

The obverse bears William and Rachel Allston walking in front of their Brookgreen Plantation home. Above, 1739 - WILLIAM ALLSTON - 1781 / PLANTATION OWNER; in exergue, BROOKGREEN GARDENS / SOUTH CAROLINA

The reverse bears Washington Allston seated at his easel, pallette and brush in hand. Around, 1779 WASHINGTON ALLSTON 1843 - DISTINGUISHED PAINTER

This was the eleventh of the prestigious Brookgreen Gardens member medals, issued in 1983. Overall, I find the design of this medal a bit static and wooden.  It's not one of the strongest Brookgreen Gardens medals.

The circular medal measures 76mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company. No mintage is reported.