MAYA ANGELOU FIRST BLACK WOMAN ON QUARTER
The US Mint’s Maya Angelou quarters are officially available.
The U.S. Mint revealed last year that Dr. Maya Angelou will be the first woman to appear on an American Women Quarter Program. The proposal was introduced by Senators Deb Fischer and Catherine Cortez Masto in 2020. The US Mint has already began releasing the first quarters honouring the legendary poet Maya Angelou.
“These past 100 years of suffrage would not have been possible without the work of so many courageous women, whose efforts paved the way for many more to make crucial contributions to the history of the United States,” Fischer and Cortez Masto earlier told reporters.
The quarter depicts Angelou in front of a soaring bird and a rising sun, as seen in her 1969 autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
Over the next four years, the initiative will produce 20 quarters honouring influential women in American history. While George Washington’s visage will stay on the coin’s head side, the tail side will feature notable women.
Senator Cortez Masto thinks Angelou is the best candidate for the first coin.
“This coin will ensure generations of Americans learn about Maya Angelou’s books and poetry,” she stated in a statement.
On the coin will be Sally Ride, the first female astronaut, Wilma Mankiller, the first female main chief of the Cherokee Nation, Nina Otero-Warren, a prominent figure in the New Mexico suffrage campaign, and Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American Hollywood celebrity.
“Each time we redesign our currency, we have the chance to say something about our country,” said Janet Yellen, the first female Treasury Secretary.
I’m happy that these coins honour some of America’s most extraordinary women, including Maya Angelou.