Selma Burke

Selma Burke was born on December 31, 1900, in Mooresville, North Carolina. She was one of ten children. Her father was a minister. Her family was African American, and they lived in the South during a hard time called Jim Crow. Back then, Black people did not have the same chances as white people.

When Selma was little, she played by a creek near her house. She made small animals out of clay and mud. She later said this was when she first found out who she was. But her family wanted her to have a safe job. So Selma studied nursing in school. She trained to be a nurse in North Carolina.

Selma became a nurse and moved to New York City in the 1920s. She worked as a private nurse. This was during a time called the Great Migration, when many Black families moved north for better lives. In New York, Selma found the Harlem Renaissance. This was a time when Black artists, writers, and musicians made amazing new art.

Even while nursing, Selma took art classes. She learned sculpture from a teacher named Augusta Savage. Selma later earned an advanced art degree from Columbia University in 1941. Then she traveled to Europe to study with famous artists. She learned new ways to make sculptures look strong and real.

Selma taught art to others too. She opened her own school, called the Selma Burke School of Sculpture, in New York. She wanted Black children and artists to learn how to sculpt.

When World War II began, Selma joined the Navy. She was one of the first Black women to join a group called the WAVES. She hurt her back while working there. While she was healing, she entered a contest to make a bronze picture of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She won! She even got to sketch him in person. In 1945, her artwork was placed on a building in Washington, D.C.

That same year, the U.S. Mint made a new dime with Roosevelt's face on it. Many people think the dime looks just like Selma's artwork. But the Mint did not give her credit. Still, many people today believe she inspired the dime we use.

Selma kept teaching art for many years. In the late 1960s, she started an art center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It helped many people learn about art. She also made statues of famous Black leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr. and Duke Ellington. Her last big statue was of Martin Luther King Jr. in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Selma won many awards for her art and teaching. In 1988, Spelman College gave her a special honorary degree. In 1994, the U.S. Congress even wrote about her and the dime.

Selma Burke died on August 29, 1995, in New Hope, Pennsylvania. She was ninety-four years old. Today, people remember her as a brave artist who helped change how Black people were shown in American art. She proved that Black women could create powerful art that the whole country could see.