Posted on 04/26/2007 8:22:40 PM PDT by condi2008
As the deadline nears to decide what image will grace the back of Oklahoma's state quarter, several Oklahomans have taken exception with what won't be on the proposed coins.
Four of the five final designs for the Oklahoma quarter include visual references to Ponca City's Pioneer Woman, a 30-foot-tall bronze statue depicting a stoic young mother, her son's hand firmly grasped in her left hand, a Bible in her right hand.
However, on all four quarter designs, the Pioneer Woman's Bible is not included.
Guidelines posted on the U.S. Mint's Web site say "inappropriate" designs for the quarters include logos or specific commercial, educational, religious, sports or other organizations whose membership or ownership is not universal.
Oklahoma's quarter is set to be released early next year.
The decision to leave the Bible out was not made locally, said Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for Gov. Brad Henry.
The Governor's Office provided the mint with written descriptions of what was to be included on the coins, and mint artists used those descriptions to design the quarters, he said.
Henry's office has received about two dozen phone calls and letters about the missing Bible, he said.
Rebecca Brave, director of Ponca City's Pioneer Woman Museum, home to the 77-year-old statue, said that "it seems like it's happened at a national level, where it seems like it's totally out of our hands."
She said the statue represents not only Oklahoma's spirit but that of America.
The Pioneer Woman walks with hope and foresight and carries a positive energy, she said.
Brave added that, technically, no one can tell that the book the Pioneer Woman holds is a Bible, although people think that's what's being represented.
"The book does not have anything on it that is a religious symbol," she said.
"We've been up there," she said. "We've looked at it."
However, Brave said she believed that Bryant Baker, the artist who created the statue, did intend the book to be a Bible.
While it's unfortunate that the book was left out, Brave said, "it's thrilling that she's (the Pioneer Woman is) in the running."
The controversy over the missing Bible has caught the attention of several Tulsa World readers, including Ken Thomas of Tulsa, who wrote a letter to the paper calling for the Bible's inclusion.
"They put 'In God We Trust' on our coinage," the 85-year-old World War II veteran pointed out in a phone interview.
"All in all, we could not have this great free nation without the help of God," he added.
Thomas said the left-out Bible "hit me where it hurt" and said he hoped his letter would inspire others "who might write better letters."
If one of the quarters depicting the Pioneer Woman is chosen, he said he hopes it will be reproduced "exactly as the statue is, complete with the Bible in her hand."
One of the five coin proposals has no reference to the Pioneer Woman. It features a picture of the scissortail flycatcher, the state bird.
Michael White, a spokesman for the U.S. Mint, said Oklahoma's narratives called for the statue to be used for inspiration and that coin engravers are allowed creativity in interpreting the designs.
However, he said, the "whole thing is a collaborative process" and that the Mint will work with the governor and state on the design.
More than 125,000 votes have been received so far for the Oklahoma quarter's design. Oklahomans have until 5 p.m. Friday to cast their votes online or by writing to Henry's office.
The winning design will be announced Monday.
About the statue
The Pioneer Woman Statue, unveiled in 1930 and located across the street from the Pioneer Woman Museum in Ponca City, is a bronze statue of a young, sun bonneted pioneer mother leading her son by the hand striding confidently, head held high.
The statue carries the following inscription: "In appreciation of the heroic character of the women who braved the dangers and endured the hardships incident to daily life of the pioneer and homesteader in this country."
*sigh*
Book...
Ping.
>> The Pioneer Woman walks with hope and foresight and carries a positive energy, she said.
Yes, she does... because she carries the Word of God in her hand, and in her heart.
Why oh why are we so concerned about holding the Koran in the proper esteem... and so unconcerned about embracing the Word of God, which has carried us so far as a nation?
So we have to lie on the image, ignoring the reality that the statue includes a Bible, in order to appease the PC crowd. Lovely.
Maybe it's the Sears catalog.
I grew up climbing it too. Love it!
The anti-christians in our government strike again. It obviously isn’t politically correct to portray this heroic woman if there is any suggesion she is a Christian.
“That “Bood” is a prominent part of the sculpture.”
I spent quite a few seconds trying to determine exactly what a “Bood” might be.
This is a sharp change in Mint policy from the days when dimes with the slogan "In God We Trust" were illustrated with the god Mercury.
Fred Thompson wrote about the changing of history. Worth the read.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/04/26/rewriting_history_a_classroom_at_a_time
And the same censors are at work as those at the WW2 memorial. The same disowners of our nations history that failed to include FDRs final words...”so help us God”
revolting that we cannot even respect our past, and our once open reverence to our God
So I am guessing that the Utah quarter will not show a Book of Mormon.
Oh; a stern, forward looking lady, making sure her child gets a proper education, by dragging him, protesting every step of the way, to school; and carrying the “nasty” book his Liberal teacher asigned....
Some things never change.
Believe it or not, but that is NOT Mercury; it is “Winged Liberty”; though, commonly miscalled “Mercury”.
Good guess. It has two locomotive engines, the Golden Spike, and the legend Crossroads of the West. At least it does according to the online illustration I found by googling “Utah quarter” (it comes out in 2007 but I haven’t seen an actual Utah quarter yet—I think it will be released near the end of the year).
I must say that I found the WW2 menorial underwhelming. The one way out in (?)Bedford, Virginia is much better.
The image I got from the facial expressions is that she is dragging him to the woodshed and she’s going to wallop him with the book since it was the first thing she grabbed.
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