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V4 2001 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 32, August 5 , 2001, Article 15 WASHROOM WARRIOR MEDAL Not everything is available on the internet, at least not yet. A search for online resources of information on the famous "Washroom Warrior" medal of Huey "Kingfish" Long turned up just one reference. Your editor would appreciate learning if others have more luck finding information. The web site of the Port Washington Public Library in New York has this entry in its collection catalog: "Huey Long in Sands Point, including a transcript of a story told by Daniel Whedon of an incident involving Louisiana Governor Huey Long, who received a black eye in the men's room of the Sands Point Bath Club on August 26, 1933. He apparently received some assistance during the altercation, and rewarded the other man involved with a medallion, inscribed: "By Public Acclaim for a Deed Well done in Private." With a xerox of the medallion, which was found years later in New Canaan, Connecticut, and xeroxes of the New York Times index, which contain summaries of articles which appeared at the time." From http://www.pwpl.org/collections/special/local-history/lh-26.html Not everything you read on the internet is true, either. Apparently the cataloger didn't take the time to read any of the articles. The medal was actually the result of a suggestion made in jest that a public fund be created to give a medal to "the unknown hero" who punched the much-hated politician. A nice account of the story appeared in one of David Alexander's Research Desk columns in Coin World (I have a copy of the article in my files, but unfortunately it's undated): "What actually happened is not known, but during a New York visit, Long was invited to a charity ball held at Long Island's Sands Point Bath and Country Club... Later in the evening, Long reappeared holding a napkin over his bleeding left eye. ... Huey spun out tales of attack by a single thug ... to assault by two to 10 or more assailants who landed as many as 20 blows." "Careful reconstruction of events suggests that the hard- drinking senator sought the men's room during the fateful party. Unwilling to wait as an earlier occupant monopolized the small facility, Long tried to share it with him. His somewhat shaky condition resulted in a drenching for the unsuspecting man, who then turned and indignantly clobbered the inebriated Kingfish." "..a newspaper story about the medal brought a flood of contributions, more than enough to pay Medallic Art Co. to prepare the dies." The anonymous Washroom Warrior never stepped forward to claim his award, and the original gold medal was donated to the American Numismatic Society in New York. "The company still displayed the original plasticine model nearly 50 years later in a public restroom of its Danbury, Conn, headquarters."

Wayne Homren, Editor

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