Massachusetts Women's Centennial Committee Medal

July 28, 2023 Posted by: David R. Daly

In January 1876 Henry W. Longfellow received the medal pictured above and wrapped it in a small piece of paper upon which he wrote “Medal presented by the Women’s Centennial Committee Jan.7 1876.” Measuring only one inch high and less than an inch across, it is a gold-plated oval with a pine tree and “MASSACHUSETTS” on the obverse, and lettering on the reverse that reads “1776 US 1876” surrounded by “SAIL ON O UNION STRONG AND GREAT”, a line taken from Longfellow’s 1849 poetic assertion of faith in the Union, “The Building of the Ship”.

The token was a commemorative medal issued by the Women’s Centennial Committee of Massachusetts, one of the state committees set up by the national Women’s Centennial Committee, an organization formed to raise money for a women’s exhibit at the Centennial Exposition to be held in Philadelphia from May through November 1876 in celebration of the nation’s 100^th birthday. The funds were used to build the Women’s Pavilion which featured exhibits highlighting the work of women. The building itself was constructed almost solely with female labor.

Longfellow was sent the medal by Mrs. Sarah Emery Hooper, the vice-president of the Women’s Centennial Executive Committee of Massachusetts. Her accompanying letter read in part:

We have wrought the pure gold of the words of our own Poet Laureate into the baser gold of the Artisan, and, in presenting this Medal to you as a slight token of our reverence, we only render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.

Sarah Hooper was an active member of many women’s organizations in Boston, including the Women’s Education Association (WEA) which aimed to improve the opportunity for and quality of girls’ and women’s education. As a member of the WEA in 1879 she founded and was the first president of the Boston Cooking School, later made famous by attendee and cookbook author Fannie Farmer.

Henry acknowledged receipt of the medal with a letter to Mrs. Hooper, dated January 10, 1876, in which he wrote:

Dear Mrs. Hooper,

I have had the pleasure of receiving your friendly note, and the Gold Medal of the Women's Centennial Committee, which you were kind enough to forward to me, and for which I beg leave to return my best thanks and acknowledgments.You have treated me far beyond my desserts. . . . I beg you to express to the ladies of the Committee my appreciation of their kindness and of the value of their gift . . .

Longfellow did visit the Centennial Exposition, arriving in Philadelphia on May 17, 1876, and staying for two weeks before returning home to Cambridge. He made no mention of a visit to the Women’s Pavilion in his journals and letters, but likely did see it, and it surely would have attracted the attention of his three daughters who accompanied him on the trip.

HenryWadsworth Longfellow, SarahHooper, medal, Centennial, 1876