This plaquette's obverse bears shoulder-length portrait of George Bailey Hopson facing left with inscription in exergue, GEORGE . BAILEY . HOPSON . D. D.; signed at top right, V.D.Brenner
The reverse bears inscription at left with the "Well of Knowledge" at right and palm and laurel branches beneath, FOR / FIFTY YEARS / PROFESSOR / OF LATIN / AT ST. STEPHENS / COLLEGE / 1863 - 1913; signed at bottom right with (VDB monogram)
The plaquette celebrates George Bailey Hopson (1838-1916) who was born into a family of clergymen. His father was the rector at St. Machael's Church at Naugatuck and his great grandfather had been rector at the Christ Church of Derby, Connecticut. It came as no surprise that he also pursued the ministry and was ordained as a deacon in 1863. An accident forced him to give up his work and after recovering he accepted a position at St. Stephen's College in Annandale, New York. He would be teaching Latin there for the next fifty years and greatly influence two full generations of students in the Classics and Literature.
The rectangular plaquette was struck in bronze and measures 56mm x 77mm.