Hermon Atkins MacNeil

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The Standing Liberty Quarter has the initial of designer Hermon Atkins MacNeil on its face above the date

Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947) was an American sculptor born at Chelsea, Massachusetts.

He was an instructor in industrial art at Cornell University from 1886 to 1889, and was then a pupil of Henri M. Chapu and Alexandre Falguière in Paris. Returning to America, he aided Philip Martiny (1858-1927) in the preparation of sketch models for the World's Columbian Exposition, and in 1896 he won the Rinehart scholarship, passing four years (1896-1900) in Rome.

In 1906 he became a National Academician. His first important work was The Moqui Runner, which was followed by A Primitive Chant, and The Sun Vow, all figures of the North American Indian. A Fountain of Liberty, for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and other Indian themes came later; his Agnese and his Beatrice, two fine busts of women, also deserve mention. One of his principal works is the sculpture for a large memorial arch, at Columbus, Ohio, in honor of President William McKinley. In 1909 he won in competition a commission for a large soldiers' and sailors' monument in Albany, New York.

Perhaps his best known work is as the designer of the Standing Liberty quarter, which as minted from 1916 to 1930, and carries his initial to the right of the date.

One of his last works was the Pony Express statue dedicated in 1940 in St. Joseph, Missouri.

His wife, Carol Brooks MacNeil, also a sculptor of distinction, was a pupil of Frederick William MacMonnies and a member of the White Rabbits.