William Nichols Medal
date: label: date made
content: 1909
notes: label: Description
content: Leo Baekeland applied for his first patent on Bakelite in June 1907, and announced the new material to the public in February 1909. Soon thereafter he won the William Nichols medal for “original research in chemistry.” Funded by a man who had prospered in the chemical supply business, and given by the New York Section of the American Chemical Society, the prize consisted of $5,000 and a gold medal. This is that medal. The inscription on the obverse reads: “The / Wm Nichols / Medal / Awarded to / L. H. Baekeland, Sc. D. / For / Researches On / Bakelite / Nov. 5th 1909.” The image on the reverse represents Dr. Faust in his laboratory as described by Goethe.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Bakelite
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Chemistry
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. William Karraker
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1982.0034.33c
label: catalog number
content: 1982.0034.33c
label: accession number
content: 1982.0034
objectType: label: Object Name
content: William Nichols Medal
label: Object Name
content: medal
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: gold (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6.3 cm; 2 15/32 in