Legendary WW1 Bronze Medal Awarded to US Army & Navy Chaplains MEDALLIC ART 1920
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Legendary WW1 Bronze Medal Awarded to US Army & Navy Chaplains MEDALLIC ART 1920:
$4999.95
The only one on or the Worldwide Web.The 1920 American Army & Navy Chaplains Medal, designed by Laura Gardin Fraser, was awarded to Protestant chaplains who served in World War I. Front displays chaplain with mortally wounded soldier, back shows cross before a battleship.Overview and Purpose
The medal was created in 1920 to honor Protestant chaplains of the U.S. Army and Navy who served during World War I (1917–1918). It was awarded by the General War-Time Commission of the Churches Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America to recognize the spiritual and humanitarian service of chaplains in combat and naval operations. While some medals were distributed to chaplains, not all recipients may have received one, and the table medal version was sometimes kept as a commemorative piece.
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The medal was designed by Laura Gardin Fraser (1889–1966), a prominent American sculptor and medalist known for her detailed and expressive work. The obverse depicts a U.S. Army chaplain wearing a steel helmet, kneeling and assisting a wounded soldier by giving him water from a canteen. The top edge is inscribed with “1917–1918”, and the artist’s signature reads “LAURA G / FRASER / 1920”. The reverse features a large cross superimposed over a U.S. Navy dreadnought (South Carolina class, 1908) and bears the inscription: “AWARDED TO THE CHAPLAINS OF THE AMERICAN ARMY AND NAVY / THE GENERAL WAR-TIME COMMISSION OF THE CHURCHES FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICA”.
- Diameter: 70 mm (approximately 2 3/4 inches)
- Weight: Around 4.5–5 ounces
- Condition: Many surviving examples retain a natural patina; some show minor discoloration but are generally Significance
The medal is a notable piece of World War I memorabilia and American medallic art, reflecting both the humanitarian role of military chaplains and the artistic contributions of Laura Gardin Fraser. It is considered rare and collectible, often appearing in sales and museum collections.
Collecting and ProvenanceCollectors value the medal for its artistic detail, historical context, and connection to WWI chaplains. Some examples were personalized with the recipient’s name, though many were issued as table medals without engraving. Museums such as the Cornell University Museum and the RISD Museum hold examples in their collections.
The 1920 Army & Navy Chaplains Medal by Laura Gardin Fraser, a rare WWI commemorative bronze, typically sells in the range of $1,500 to $5,000 depending on condition, provenance, and sale setting.Historical and Artistic ContextDesigned by renowned medalist Laura Gardin Fraser and struck by the Gorham Company in 1920, this bronze medal honors Protestant chaplains who served in World War I. The obverse features a chaplain ministering to a wounded soldier, while the reverse displays a large cross over a U.S. Navy dreadnought, inscribed with “AWARDED TO THE CHAPLAINS OF THE AMERICAN ARMY AND NAVY”. The medal is approximately 2 3/4 inches (70 mm) in diameter, weighs around 5 ounces, and bears Fraser’s signature along with Gorham’s mark.Its artistic elegance and historical significance make it highly collectible.
This medal represents a unique intersection of military history, religious service, and early 20th-century American art.
Both Laura Gardin and James Earle Fraser loved America and the United States Armed Forces. During World War 1 Laura served her country in one of only a few ways available to women. An independent minded woman, she served as a captain in the American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps transporting wounded soldiers.
This experience uniquely qualified Laura Gardin Fraser to design the 1920 Army/Navy Chaplains Medal. The obverse of this medal perfectly illustrates the compassion of “The Good Samaritan" typical of Army chaplains who ministered to wounded soldiers on the front lines. I used the following excerpt from the Federal Council Bulletin Vol. 3 No. 5 May 1920 to support my claim.
The Chaplains' Medal
“The medal to be given by the Protestant churches united in war work to all their chaplains of the American Army and Navy who served in the war is the work of Mrs. Laura Gardin Fraser, of New York, one of the best known of American medalists.
The task which was given to Mrs. Fraser was to produce a design which would express the spirit of the men who served as chaplains and which should represent both branches of the service. That the sculptor has achieved a notable success and produced a medal of rare distinction and beauty is the judgment of competent artists and critics.
In the design for the chaplains' medal, Mrs. Fraser has chosen to represent an army chaplain in the act of supreme service, ministering at the risk of his own life to a wounded man. To those familiar with experiences at the front, the danger of the situation will be at once apparent. In the center of the design the gas mask is seen, ready for immediate adjustment. Indeed, the suggestion is that the chaplain has, perhaps, momentarily removed it, the better to succor the wounded man. Each detail of the chaplain's equipment has been carefully scrutinized and pronounced correct by more than one who served at the front. Strength and sympathy are expressed in the finely modeled figure of the chaplain. The figure of the wounded man represents one of those who served the big guns and were frequently stripped to the waist when in action. This choice of a subject appealed to the sculptor for its artistic possibilities. The very strength of the splendidly modeled back seems by contrast to accentuate the helplessness of the wounded gunner.
The fine record of the men who served as chaplains in the Navy, many of them constantly passing back and forth through the submarine danger zone, ministering to the crews of the naval vessels and the soldiers on the transports, is recalled by the representation of the battleship on the reverse of the medal. The design of this side, with the cross as the central feature, is dignified and strong.
If the thought occurs that not all the chaplains were privileged to serve as the chaplain represented on the obverse of the medal, the answer is that the design expresses the kind of service for which every man who entered the chaplaincy in both the Army and Navy was ready and eager.
The striking of these medals is the realization of a suggestion made soon after the armistice in the Executive Committee of the General War-Time Commission of the Churches. The Committee approved the proposal and made it one of the tasks committed to the General Committee on Army and Navy Chaplains when the War-Time Commission dissolved.
It is hoped the medals will have a permanent value for those who receive them. They are the gift of the churches which worked in closest fellowship during the war in carrying out their common tasks through the War-Time Commission. The medals are intended to convey in tangible form a message of grateful appreciation from the churches to their chaplain sons who were ready to give up life itself, if necessary, in the service of their fellows in the Army and Navy. The churches are proud indeed of the splendid record the chaplains made.
A word of gratitude should be said for the interest taken by the sculptor in her task. Mrs. Fraser brought to it an understanding sympathy without which so satisfying a result could never have been obtained. The medals are to be struck in bronze by the Gorham Company of New York.”
The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America originally budgeted $25,000 towards the production of these medals [2]
1 The Numismatist; July 2013, pg. 35
2 Federal Council Bulletin Vol. 3 No. 4 April 1920
Legendary WW1 Bronze Medal Awarded to US Army & Navy Chaplains MEDALLIC ART 1920:
$4999.95
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