5.4

Representations of Gender and Race on U.S. Currency

Most images on U.S. money have been of White men, conveying a message that the stories and achievements of women and people of color are less deserving of the honor of currency recognition. The new American Women Quarters initiative is designed to honor women change-makers. In these activities you will get a chance to design your own currency and campaign for change.

Given their constant use, the images on banknotes and coins become part of everyone's accepted stock of knowledge and important topics for critical media analysis. We take for granted that George Washington looked like just he appears on the $1 bill, Alexander Hamilton like he does on the $10 bill, and so on.

Most images on U.S. money have been of White men, conveying a message that the stories and achievements women and people of color are less deserving of the honor of currency recognition.

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Since World War I and before the American Women Quarters program, only Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea, and Helen Keller have appeared on U.S. coins. Martha Washington appeared on $1 silver certificates in 1886 and Pocahontas was on the $20 bill in the 1860s. 

Booker T. Washington was the first African American on a coin in 1946; Jackie Robinson, Duke Ellington, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, and the Tuskegee Airmen, among others have appeared since then.

A Native American figure appeared on the Indian Head penny, but the model was a liberty lady wearing an Native American head-dress; only a few million Buffalo nickels were minted in the early 20th century.

Worldwide, only 15% of countries have images of women on their banknotes (Which Countries Feature Women on Banknotes?, Visual Capitalist, March 8, 2022).

The new American Women Quarters initiative from the U.S. Mint is designed to honor women change-makers in U.S. history, including:

"The U.S. Mint's American Women Quarters Program celebrates five female trailblazers in American history each year between 2022 and 2025. Anna May Wong is featured on the fifth coin released in 2022." | Public Domain

The U.S. Treasury plans to bring forth an image of Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, but not till 2030. New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D) is a supporter of the Woman on the Twenty Act that would require all $20 bills printed from 2027 onward to have Harriet Tubman portrait on the face. Additionally, commemorative coins honoring Harriet Tubman were released by the U.S. Mint at the beginning of 2024.

If you were in charge of designing the next currency for the U.S. Mint, who would you include on coins and bills? In these activities you will get a chance to design your own currency and campaign for change.

Activity 1: Examine the Images of Women and People of Color on Currency

Designing for Learning: Student-Created Activity Example

Sacagawea Currency Analysis by Anetia Rom

Activity 2: Campaign for Changes in the Images on Currency

Designing for Learning: Student-Created Activity Example

New IT Girl of US Currency by Anetia Rom

Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Anetia Rom

Activity 3: Design Images for Digital Currency

Digital currency is emerging as a means of exchange around the world. For example, early in 2021, China began testing in cities its own homegrown digital currency, the Electronic Chinese Yuan (New York Times, March 1, 2021).

Designing for Learning: Student-Created Activity Example

Design Images for Digital Currency by Anetia Rom

Additional Resources

Connecting to the Building Democracy for All eBook

Building Democracy for All: Whose Faces Should Be on U.S. Currency?

Connecting to the Standards

  • Massachusetts Civics & Government Standards
    • Analyze the Constitutional issues that caused the Civil War and led to the eventual expansion of the power of the federal government and individual civil rights. (Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for History and Social Studies) [8.T5.3]
  • ISTE Standards
    • Digital Citizen
      • 2c: Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
    • Knowledge Constructor
      • 3a: Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
      • 3b: Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data, or other resources.
      • 3d: Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.
    • Creative Communicator
      • 6a: Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
      • 6b: Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
      • 6d: Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for the intended audiences.
  • DLCS Standards
    • Ethics and Laws (CAS.b)
    • Interpersonal and Societal Impact (CAS.c)
    • Digital Tools (DTC.a)
    • Collaboration and Communication (DTC.b)
    • Research (DTC.c)
  • English Language Arts > History/Social Studies Common Core Standards
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.7
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7

This content is provided to you freely by Equity Press.

Access it online or download it at https://equitypress.org/mediaandciviclearning/represent_on_currency.