Anna Willess Williams

Anna Willess Williams (August 15, 1857 – April 17, 1926) was a teacher and philosophical writer best known as the model for George T. Morgan's silver dollar design, popularly known as the Morgan dollar.

Morgan dollar

In 1876, George T. Morgan began creating a series of new coin designs at the behest of Director of the Mint, Dr. Henry R. Linderman. Morgan opted to use the profile of an American girl to depict the Goddess of Liberty instead of simply creating an imaginary figure for the obverse of his new design. She left her job as principal at a girls' house-of-refuge school to become a teacher of kindergarten philosophy at a girls' normal school. Williams died, unmarried, on April 17, 1926.