Joseph Henry Hall of Fame for Great Americans Medal, 1972. Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University. By Adlai S. Hardin. Bronze; 76mm. Obverse: Portrait of Henry, great American physicist renowned for his work with electromagnets - which among other things made possible the telegraph, and first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Reverse: Lightning encircling the world as a symbol of both the telegraph and electricity which so vastly changed the world for all its people. Struck by the Medallic Art Company, New York. Condition: EXTREMELY FINE.
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University was established in 1900. Bronze portrait busts of the honorees were commissioned and placed in an open-air colonnade, and starting in 1962 medals, struck by the Medallic Art Company, were issued to honor the inductees. The series was discontinued in 1975 with 94 medals having been issued.