Glenna Goodacre, Famous Sculptor and Coin Designer, Has Left Us
by Dennis Tucker

New Mexico artist Glenna Goodacre-well known to coin collectors as the designer of the Sacagawea dollar-has died of natural causes at the age of 80. She passed away ather home in Santa Fe the evening of Monday, April 13, 2020.

Goodacre was an artist of monumental sculptures including the Vietnam Women's Memorial (part of the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial), situated on the National Mall inWashington, D.C., and dedicated in 1993. Her Irish Memorial (2003), installed at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, is a massive monument of 35 life-size sculptures dedicated toAmerica's millions of Irish immigrants. Her delightful and energetic sculpture The Puddle Jumpers is in Montgomery, Alabama. The Smithsonian Art Inventory describes it:"Six running children, three boys and three girls, are preparing to jump into a puddle. The children are holding hands and are in various states of motion. Three of the figuresare anchored to the ground, though all have the appearance of being suspended in air. The figures wear play clothes and are all smiling and laughing."

Goodacre's portraiture included a bronze statue of Ronald Reagan, After the Ride, displayed at his Presidential Library in California. She created a full-length figureof ragtime composer Scott Joplin, a striding depiction of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and many other impressive sculptural portraits.

To numismatists, however, Glenna Goodacre will forever be remembered in the popular Sacagawea dollar, the first "golden dollar" of the United States Mint. Her design for thecoin's obverse features Shoshone Indian interpreter and guide Sacagawea, who helped explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their famed journey westward from the GreatNorthern Plains to the Pacific Ocean. She depicted Sacagawea carrying her infant son Jean Baptiste, known as "Pomp." The figures were from Goodacre's creative imagination, as nocontemporary portraits of the subjects are known to exist.

Goodacre's design was central to the Sacagawea dollar coin issued from 2000 to 2008 (with an eagle-in-flight reverse design by Thomas D. Rogers Sr.). Since 2009 it has been theobverse of the Native American series of dollar coins, issued annually with a new theme on the reverse each year.

The artist received $5,000 for her work on the new dollar, in the form of 5,000 specially burnished and surface-treated coins-a format unexpected by her and unannounced inadvance. Q. David Bowers, the "Dean of American Numismatics," describes the unusual payment, which proved to be a bonanza: "At the time the Mint was having some problems withdiscoloration, and [this burnishing] was the way to prevent that from happening with coins that no doubt would be given away or otherwise distributed by Goodacre, rather thanbeing spent. . . . These were delivered to her Santa Fe, New Mexico, studio by Mint Director Philip Diehl accompanied by two Mint police officers. A special ceremony was heldthere on April 5, 2000." The coins were slabbed and graded with special labels, with Goodacre keeping 2,000 for herself and the rest being sold.

Bowers, a longtime fan of Goodacre's, who wrote extensively on her work in the Guide Book of Modern United States Dollar Coins, remembers the artist with thistribute:

Jeff Garrett, a professional numismatist and senior editor of the Guide Book of United States Coins, recalls meeting Goodacre. Garrett enjoyed the honor of helping hersell her coins:

Robin Salmon, Brookgreen Gardens's vice president of Art and Historical Collections and curator of Sculpture, and currently a member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee,which reviews American coin designs, describes Goodacre as "a remarkable woman and a good friend who never met a stranger. Her artwork continues on as powerful testimony to herlove of family and the beauty of the human spirit."

Greg Weinman, senior legal counsel at the United States Mint, who worked closely with Goodacre during the design and launch of the Sacagawea dollar, also remembers the artistas "a good friend and one of my favorite people in the world."

The numismatic community joins Glenna Goodacre's family, friends, and many fans in mourning her loss and celebrating her art.