RETURN TO NTA MEDALS AND AWARDS

Background of Association Silver Medal

July 17, 1959

The Board of Government established in 1895 a fund of one thousand dollars, the income of which was to be reserved as a resouce fro purposes beneficial to the Association

During the year 1898 the Board decided to establish the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association medal, and to use such parts of the income of this fund as may be necessary to the recognition of the merit in papers read before the Association, and the acknowledgements of the worthy [sic] of inventions and methods contributing to the advancement of the cotton textile art. The first medal was awarded in 1902.

It is the purpose of the Board of Government that this medal may be given to any person whose work has been, in their opinion, an advantage of sufficient importance to the purposes to which this organization is devoted in its broadest sense, including any papers read before the Association, the production of any mechanism or processes in the fabrication, design, or finishing of cotton goods, comprising mill construction, the generation of power and its distribution, or any of the works tributary to the cotton manufacture.

In the just award of this medal to the deserving, the Board of Government reserves the right to call to its assistance in determining the facts governing any work, committees made up of those skilled in the subject under consideration.

The reasons governing any award shall be entered on the records of the Board of Government, and the medal will be accompanied by a suitable diploma executed by the President and Secretary, setting forth the award and the causes for which it was made.

Original medal

We have no medal with the words "New England Cotton Manufacturers Association" appearing thereon. The name of the Association became "The National Association of Cotton Manufacturers" in 1909.

The dies for the medal were made by the Gorham Manufacturing Company, and the design was based upon the general lines of the corporate seal of the Association. The obverse bore the name of the Association and the dates of its foundation and incorporation. In the middle is the loom of the pattern in general use at the time of the foundation of this Association, surrounded by a garland and on the left, Upland Cotton. The name of the Association in mural text is girded by a polygon of hanks of yarn knotted together.

The reverse of the medal bears a chaplet of oak and laurel leaves, symbolizing strength and honor, and secured at the base by an American Eagle with outstretched wings, the whole forming a frame for hte tablet containing the inscription of the name of the recipient and the cause of the award.

NEW MEDAL

In 1956 the name "Northern Textile Association" was adopted; the By-laws were changed to recognize that man-made fiber and wool textile manufacturers had joined the Association; and the purposes of the Association were likewise broadened. The basis for awarding the Silver Medal was changed accordingly.

A new seal for the Association was authorized and designed and now appears appears obverse of the medal. The first design of the new medal was made by Mr. Ben Nason of Boston and was subsequently revised by the addition of a rams head which appears on the right side of the design. The revision and die was done by the Medallic Art Company of New York. The medal retains the cotton bolls of the original medal as well as the hanks of yarn and the date of founding, 1854. In addition, there appears on the medal a loom beam, chemical equipment, and the rams head. the initials NTA appear in the center and the full name of the Association also appears.

The reverse of the medal has not been changed and the old die is retained.

The new medal will be given for the first time in 1959. Senator John O. Pastore of Rhode Island will recieve it for his contribution as Chairman of the Special Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. His subcommitt's investigations began on July 8, 1958 and concluded with a unanimous report on February 4, 1959.