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The Jewish-American Hall of Fame is a non-profit website featuring 500 years of American Jewish history from the Jews who helped Columbus to Barbra Streisand, illustrated by specially commissioned art medals. The tradition of American Jewish medals is understood to date back to about 1812.

The Jewish-American Hall of Fame was established by Mel Wacks at the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, California in 1969, with the support and encouragement of Seymour Fromer, Director of the Magnes Museum. Limited edition medals are issued annually to commemorate the accomplishments of men and women in various fields, historic sites and events. The first medal and almost all subsequent issues are uniquely trapezoidal shape, an innovation of Berkeley sculptor Victor Ries. In 2001, the Jewish-American Hall of Fame became a Division of the American Jewish Historical Society in New York.

Medals

Over 25,000 medals have been made and sold by the Jewish-American Hall of Fame, and they are in collections of individuals and museums in the United States, China, England, Israel, Sweden, etc.

In 1990, Alan Stahl wrote in the catalog of FIDEM (International Federation of Medallic Art that the Jewish-American Hall of Fame medals were one of the three most "important series of medals in recent years."

Plaques

A permanent exhibit of the Jewish-American Hall of Fame plaques was inaugurated at the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Virginia, in 2010.

The First American Jewish Medal

After extensive research, Mel Wacks has concluded that (1) the die for the first American Jewish medal, commemorating Gershom Mendes Seixas, was not made in 1816 as previously supposed; it existed as early as February 7, 1812. (2) There is no reason to assume that the die was commissioned by Columbia or even that the medal in the Columbia Archives was made by Columbia. (3) And lastly, the silver “shell” medal in the Columbia archives was engraved after the death of Gershom Mendes Seixas on July 2, 1816 on a medal that was made sometime c. 1812 – 1816.

Harry Flower Collection of Albert Einstein Medals

Harry Flower amassed a large collection of medals from around the world, honoring Albert Einstein. These can be viewed by country of origin.

Related Wikicollecting articles

Main article: Tokens and Medals

See also

Jewish-American Hall of Fame web site
Exhibit of Jewish-American Hall of Fame plaques at the Virginia Holocaust Museum
Harry Flower Collection of Albert Einstein Medals
First American Jewish Medal