12. Hermon A. MacNeil Park honors the designer of the Standing Liberty quarter
Hermon Atkins MacNeil, who names a park in College Point and lived and worked in the neighborhood, was an American sculptor who designed the Standing Liberty quarter, which was minted from 1916 to 1930 after the Barber quarter. After spending time teaching at Cornell University and studying in Paris, MacNeil helped in the preparation of sketches for Chicago’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. He turned his focus to sculptures of Native Americans for events like the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, and he also created a monument to William McKinley in Columbus, Ohio.
MacNeil’s design for the quarter showed Liberty standing with a shield to defend herself from an impending attack. The front of the coin depicted a flying eagle. However, Mint officials made changes to the design without telling him, leading to some modifications. The coin was later replaced by the Washington quarter, featuring a side profile of Washington to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth. After gaining fame for his design, MacNeil would go on to compete in art competitions at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics, and he also designed Justice, the Guardian of Liberty for the U.S. Supreme Court building. MacNeil’s artworks are found in other boroughs as well, such as his Washington as Commander-in-Chief at the base of the Washington Square Arch, a cast of Sun Vow at the Pratt Institute, the Flushing War Memorial in Queens, and four busts at the Hall of Fame of Great Americans at Bronx Community College.