Nancy Coonsman

Nancy Coonsman Hahn (August 28, 1887 – January 27, 1976) was an American sculptor who won the commission for the Missouri War Memorial in Chépy, France.

Early life George Julian Zolnay with sculpture students at Art Academy of People's University. Nancy Coonsman is kneeling on the far right.

Nancy Coonsman was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on August 28, 1887, the daughter of Robert A. Coonsman (b. 1851) and Henrietta "Nettie" Hynson (b. 1854). She then studied in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with Charles Grafly, then in New York City under Abastenia St. Leger Eberle.

In 1922, Nancy Coonsman won a $25,000 ($348,890.17 in 2017) competition to design the war memorial, called Victory, erected in Cheppy-Varennes-en-Argonne, France, to honor the Missouri soldiers from the 35th Infantry Division (United States) killed during World War I.

In 1926 she designed The Doughboy, dedicated in 1928, to honor World War I soldiers and placed in Overton Park (or Veterans Park) in Memphis, Tennessee.

Later in life she became a teacher and worked on small figures and busts. a stamp dealer and collector who wrote a column on philately for the Chicago Sun Times.

Hahn was the founder, and consequently first president, of the Burlington Liars' Club. While living in Burlington, Nancy Coonsman sculpted the brass plaque erected by the Burlington Historical Society on Highway 11, west of White River bridge, to commemorate the site of the Voree Mormon settlement.

She died in Winnetka, Illinois, on January 27, 1976.