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INDEX
Time Period
1968-1977
1978-1987
1988-1993
1994-1998
1999-2008
2009
2010-2011
2012
2013-2014
2015-2016
2017
2018-2019
2020-2024
Major Accomplishments
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The Amazing Lost and Found Story of the
First Jewish-American Hall of Fame Model
By Mel Wacks
In 1969, the Jewish-American Hall of Fame commissioned Victor Ries to create our first medal. Victor was a metal worker who had created large decorative sculpture, jewelry, etc. before – but he had never created a medal! He submitted a number of designs for the medal commemorating Judah L. Magnes, who among other accomplishments, had been the first president of Hebrew University, in Jerusalem. Victor submitted designs in the traditional round shape, as well as an unusual rounded trapezoidal shape. The trapezoidal shape was chosen, and has been used for nearly all of the 50 Jewish-American Hall of Fame medals made since.
The original models for a medal are generally made in a large size – first in clay and then cast in Plaster-of-Paris – and then are reduced in size and cut into the steel dies. Since Victor was used to working in metal, he made his large models out of pieces of metal welded together.
The author (left) and unidentified man admiring original Magnes model c. 1969
The original 10” (diagonal) models were given to the Judah L. Magnes Museum (under whose sponsorship the Jewish-American Hall of Fame operated), in Berkeley for display and possible storage. A few years later, Seymour Fromer, Director of the Magnes Museum, loaned the obverse model to Dr. Lester H. Gabriel, an educator in the field of structural engineering and structural mechanics of concrete and steel construction, analysis and design. Dr. Gabriel held 6 U.S. patents and 18 international patents for his work in composite materials and concrete. In addition, he was the recipient of numerous National Science Foundation faculty awards. He was the author of a large number of scientific papers and was a faculty member and administrator in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Sacramento State for many years. I was told that Lester wanted to experiment in casting the model into concrete. But the model disappeared! After the original plaque reappeared, I attempted to contact Dr. Gabriel, to find out what had happened to it - but I learned that he had passed away in 2008.
On July 16, 2019 I received the following email from a collector who had been acquiring Jewish-American Hall of Fame medals for many years:
Hi Mel,
Recently I purchased another JAHF plaque on eBay. This one is a bronze Judah Magnes plaque, about 9" x 8-1/2", with a mounting screw on the back but no wooden mounting board like the Gershom Seixas plaque that I purchased a couple of years ago. Overall it is in nice
condition. There is not much information on these plaques in your on-line book on the JAHF medals, other than a couple of small pictures that show some of the plaques. Is there more information that you are willing to share on this one?
Thanks.
Charlie L.
Front and back of the 10” (diagonal) Judah L. Magnes plaque, when it was pictured on ebay.
I knew that we had never made duplicates of this plaque, and guessed that it might be the lost original. So I quickly texted back to Charlie, indicating the circumstances of its disappearance over 45 years ago, and asking if he would return it so it could be restored in the Jewish-American Hall of Fame archives – saying “This is our 50th year and this discovery of this long lost original will be the icing on the cake.” I also offered to reimburse him for the cost of the plaque on ebay and his cost to ship it to me. I also indicated that I would “send you this pair of [Barbra] Streisand plaques made by Alex Shagin in cold cast bronze that are identical to those hanging in our permanent exhibit [at the Virginia Holocaust Museum]. My heart was pounding, until I received his reply a few hours later:
Hi Mel,
I agree to your proposal. I had no idea that this was an original. It deserves a place in a museum or in the JAHF archives, not in my private collection. I am very pleased to help with the recovery of this work of art.
Charlie
Thank goodness for honest collectors! I can’t help wondering what the odds were that this model would appear on ebay after four decades, and that the purchaser would contact me, and that he would return it! It’s a miracle!
But wait – there’s more! I asked Charlie if he would ask the ebay seller how he had acquired the plaque – and here is his reply:
Hello L.,
Thank you for your interesting information about the plaque. As you may know by reviewing the type items that I sell on ebay most of them are related to fishing and the outdoors. This is a hobby of mine since retirement. The plaque is somewhat of an exception. I attended a small flea market in Sebastopol approximately a couple of months ago and purchased the item along with a few unrelated items from a gentleman who appeared to be selling contents of a storage locker. The majority of the items he was selling were in older cardboard boxes and carefully wrapped in newspaper. Most items were what I would call vintage glassware and china. The vendor seemed to know little about his wares including the plaque. I did a little research and decided it might be of value or interest to someone else, thereby, I listed it for resale on ebay. Happy to see it has found an appropriate home...
Jack
if only this plaque could talk!
Obverse and reverse of the 2” (diagonal) Judah L. Magnes bronze medal.
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