Selma Burke, for whom the Selma Burke School of Sculpture in New York City and the Selma Burke Art Center in Pittsburgh are named, was a distinguished black-woman sculptor. She sculpted in brass, stone and wood, and her best subjects are nudes and historical figures.

Selma Burke's most famous accomplishment is the portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the dime coin that is used today. She was also an influential teacher and moving force in the development of black art in America. Her work is reminiscent of Aristide Maillol, with whom she studied.
Selma H. Burke was born in 1900 in Mooresville, North Carolina. She was one of ten children born to Neal Burke, a Methodist Minister, and Mary Jackson Burke, an educator and homemaker. Selma became interested in art when she discovered that by modeling clay taken from the river bed near her parents' farm house she could make all kinds of figures and artistic objects. Her desire and interest in the arts took root immediately.