Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Jacket with Spanish American War Veterans medal |
Object Name |
Jacket |
Scope & Content |
This men's navy wool jacket has five brass buttons with the eagle insignia down the front. There are three smaller brass buttons on each sleeve. The jacket is a pea coat style. A medal is pinned to the left chest. The bronze three piece Spanish American War Veterans medal with ribbon issued to members of the United Spanish War Veterans. At the top of the medal is bronze American eagle in mid-flight within a laurel wreath in front of a shield with vertical stripes and five-pointed stars. Attached to this piece is a ribbon in the shape of an American flag hanging vertically with thirteen stripes and thirteen stars. Attached to the bottom of the ribbon is a bronze piece consisting of a cavalry saber, an infantry rifle, and a naval anchor, all crossed. Attached to this piece is the final component of the medal which is a bronze Spanish American War cross, with the four arms (clockwise from right to left), reading: "PORTO RICO/ CUBA/ PHILIPPINES/ USA". This cross also contains the dates "1898-1902" with the words "SPANISH WAR VETERANS" surround a small circular military scene. On the reverse side of the cross the four arms read (clockwise from right to left): "NORTH/ SOUTH/ EAST/ WEST." At the center circle of the cross is a field of five-pointed stars and vertical stripes with the word "UNITED" atop the field of stars and stripes. The medal was awarded from 1904 to 1992. Anyone who served in the armed forces during the Spanish American War or during the Philippine American War was eligible for membership (this organization and the U.S. government both treated both of these separate wars as the same conflict). Of course, over 325,000 served in the Spanish American War, with the U.S. forces in the Philippine-American War peaked at over 70,000 men. As a result, the medal is not tremendously rare. To our knowledge, the serial numbers are not traceable on these medals. |
Object ID |
2019.063.001 |
Collection |
AIMH |
Caption |
Jacket |
Number of images |
3 |
Search Terms |
20th century clothing Spanish American War |
Year Range from |
1904 |
Year Range to |
1992 |