Born to a newspaper family in Lynchburg, Virginia, Carter Glass (1858 - 1946) took an early and active interest in politics. Elected to Congress in 1902, Glass later became Chairman of the Subcommittee, which was set up to explore the reformation of the Nation's banking and currency system. Glass favored a highly decentralized system of reserve banks, but he supported and helped guide through Congress President Wilson's proposal for the Federal Reserve System, established in 1913. In 1919, Wilson appointed Glass Secretary of the Treasury to succeed former Secretary William G. McAdoo.
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Sec. Carter Glass
J. Campbell Phillips
Oil on canvas
1920
51 3/4 x 41 1/2 x 3 1/4"
P.1921.2 |
His most notable achievement in office was the successful floating of a $5 billion Victory Loan, a huge consolidation of government borrowings and an important administrative accomplishment, to help liquidate the expenses of World War I. Upon returning to Congress as a Senator in 1920, Glass remained interested in the Federal Reserve and contributed to the acts of 1933 and 1935 which modernized the institution and removed it from the Treasury Department. For his long support of the Federal Reserve, Glass became popularly known as the "Father of the Federal Reserve."
About the Artist
Born and trained as an artist in New York City, J. Campbell Phillips (1873 - 1949) began his career at the age of fifteen as a magazine illustrator. He later made a specialty of depicting life in rural black America. Once he turned to portrait painting, he received many prizes and established a solid reputation as a portraitist. In addition to painting Secretaries William McAdoo and Carter Glass for the Treasury Department, Phillips also painted several official portraits for the State House at Trenton, New Jersey. His portrait of Carter Glass was painted from life in 1920.