Vietnam Women's Memorial Project Glenna Goodacre design proposal packet, 1991

Access and use

Location of collection:
George Mason University
2400 Fenwick Library
Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library MS2FL
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Mieko Palazzo
Phone: (703) 993-2220
Fax: (703) 993-2669
Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)

Preferred citation:

Vietnam Women's Memorial Project Glenna Goodacre design proposal packet, C0546, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries

Summary

Extent:
.1 Linear Feet 2 folders, including 1 in map case
Creator:
Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc
Abstract:
Packet prepared by the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project for the "Commission Hearing for Proposed Design of Vietnam Women's Memorial" proposing a design by Glenna Goodacre.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Vietnam Women's Memorial Project Glenna Goodacre design proposal packet, C0546, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries

Background

Scope and content:

Packet prepared by the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project (VWMP) for the "Commission Hearing for Proposed Design of Vietnam Women's Memorial" proposing a design by Glenna Goodacre. Materials include the original branded folder, a cover letter from the VWMP to the Commission, copies of letters sent by others to the Commission in support of the project design, a chronology of the VWMP, 1990 Annual Report document, and a single page describing the planned specifications for the memorial. The packet also includes six individual 8x10 photographs (each with a duplicate) of the sample memorial statue design in small scale by artist Glenna Goodacre, as well as three additional individual 8x10 photographs (each with a duplicate) of full-size completed sculptures by Goodacre in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well as papers with additional information on Goodacre including a list of awards/honors, portrait commissions, selected public collections, and a copy of a profile in Antiques & Fine Art. An oversized copy of the VWMP's 1990 double-sided design competition poster was also included and is stored separately in a Map Case.

Biographical / historical:

Glenna Maxey (later Goodacre) was on August 28, 1939 in Lubbock, Texas. She studied art at Colorado Collage, where she met her first husband William Goodacre, and returned to her hometown of Lubbock upon graduating in 1961. Initially focusing on painting, Glenna shifted her medium to sculpture in 1974 and moved her family to Boulder, Colorado, before making one final move to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1983 following her divorce from first husband William. Over the course of her nearly 50 year career, Glenna sculpted over 600 pieces, including the Vietnam Women's Memorial installed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in 1993. Her other most well-known works include the 2002 Irish Memorial in Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the image of Sacagawea on the U.S. Dollar coins first minted in 2000, and a life-size statue of President Ronald Reagan sculpted in 1998 for both the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City and the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Glenna passed away on April 13, 2020 at the age of 90.

The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project (VWMP) was established in 1984 when plans for placing a statue specifically to commemorate the estimated 11,500 American women who served in Vietnam began. On June 15, 1988, the U.S Senate approved the addition of a dedicated "woman's statue", originally to be placed within Arlington National Cemetery. In 1990, the VWMP sponsored a nationwide competition to choose a final design for the statue, but the competition jury was ultimately split in their voting, so in September 1991 the United States Commission of Fine Arts voted for a new design by sculptor Glenna Goodacre. Landscape architect George Dickie chose the final site for the statue, located 300 feet south of the Vietnam Memorial on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall, and installation was finalized in 1993.

Acquisition information:
Donor is unknown.
Processing information:

Processing and finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in February 2026.

Arrangement:

This is a single folder collection. A single oversized poster is housed in a separete folder in a Map Case based on storage requirements.

Physical location:
R 73, C 2, S 4 Oversized design competition poster - Map Case 22.1
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard