Headline, Headline, Read All About It: Women on the Quarters

I was over-the-top excited to learn that the U.S. Mint is releasing five new coins a year between 2022 and 2025—all with women on the quarters. The American Women Quarters Program will celebrate the accomplishments and contributions made by women to the development and history of the United States.

The obverse (“head” side) will still feature the likeness of George Washington, which was originally sculpted by a woman, Laura Gardin Fraser. The reverse (“tail” side) will feature the likeness of one of each of the women celebrated. These women will be from diverse backgrounds and a variety of fields.

The 2022 set features Maya Angelou, Sally Ride, Wilma Mankiller, Nina Otero-Warren, and Anna May Wong.

If you sat bored in history classes, so did I. Teachers spewed dates and names that we had to memorize for tests—and then promptly forgot. History was taught all wrong, and in many cases, it still is today. So, let me bring history alive for you.

Help me celebrate these five remarkable women. Beginning with Anna May Wong—not just because she’s from California (like me), but because she epitomizes (sadly) the prejudices exacerbated today.

Anna May Wong (1905-1961)

?????????“I was so tired of the parts I had to play. There seems little for me in Hollywood, because, rather than real Chinese, producers prefer Hungarians, Mexicans, American Indians for Chinese roles.”

Anna May Wong was born in Los Angeles in 1905 and was considered the first Chinese-American film star in Hollywood. She appeared in more than 60 movies, including The Toll of the Sea, one of the first films made in Technicolor. She got screen credits for years, yet her career was limited because of racism.

She couldn’t appear in a romance story, because the racism of the time prevented her from playing opposite a white leading man. She was never able to play a “normal American woman.” She was stuck in exotic roles in films like Daughter of the Dragon in 1931, and Shanghai Express in 1932 with Marlene Dietrich. She usually played a villian, and her character rarely lived until the closing credits. She couldn’t even get cast in The Good Earth. She was told she was too Chinese to play Chinese.

It’s only right that she be honored as one of the women on the quarters.

Fast Facts About Anna May Wong :

• First person to put a rivet in the Grauman's Chinese Theatre
• First Asian-American lead on a TV series (“The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong”)
• Third-generation Chinese-American
• Never married (but that didn't stop papers from spreading rumors)

Anna May Wong Quotes:

• “I was so tired of the parts I had to play. Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain of the piece, and so cruel a villain—murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass. We are not like that. When I die, my epitaph should be: I died a thousand deaths. That was the story of my film career. Most of the time I played in mystery and intrigue stories. They didn’t know what to do with me at the end, so they killed me off."
• “Every time your picture is taken, you lose a part of your soul.”
• “I'm Anna May Wong. I come from old Hong Kong. But now I'm a Hollywood star.”

Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

???????“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”

Maya Angelou is a legendary voice, even in our modern times. She silenced that voice when she was 8 years old and spoke only to her brothers for years, but her words were strong when she penned I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a memoir of her life in the Jim Crow south.

Angelou has inspired generations of young women—both black and white—with a message we all understood. We know her well as a memoirist, essayist, and poet, who authored several books of poetry, three books of essays, and a list of plays, movies, and television shows. She was also a journalist who worked in Africa, a historian, songwriter, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, performer, and singer.

Fast Facts About Maya Angelou :

• First black woman to conduct a cable car in San Francisco
• Spoke six languages
• Second woman in history to recite work at a presidential inauguration
• Avid chef who wrote two cookbooks
• Had her own line of Hallmark greeting cards

Maya Angelou Quotes:

• “There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.”
• "Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one to stay."
• “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
• “A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim.”

Dr. Sally Ride (1951-2012)

???????"I would like to be remembered as someone who was not afraid to do what she wanted to do, and as someone who took risks along the way in order to achieve her goals."

I remember when Sally Ride blasted off aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983. We watched in awe as she became the first American woman—and at age 32, the youngest American—in space.

After her historic spaceflight, Sally Ride saw that her example was a powerful tool for inspiring young people, especially girls, to pursue careers in science. She teamed up with Tam O’Shaughnessy to write six science books for young people. Together, they started an education company to inspire youth interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). In 2001, they founded Sally Ride Science, with the goal of ensuring that girls and boys of all backgrounds had access to role models who looked like them.

When President Obama honored Sally posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, he said of her: "As the first American woman in space, Sally did not just break the stratospheric glass ceiling, she blasted through it. And when she came back to Earth, she devoted her life to helping girls excel in fields like math, science and engineering."

She also received many honors during her life and was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame, National Women’s Hall of Fame, and Aviation Hall of Fame.

Fast Facts About Sally Ride :

• Aspired to play shortstop for the Dodgers
• Avid stamp collector
• Played tennis against Billie Jean King
• Was the voice of ground control
• Co-starred with the Muppets

Sally Ride Quotes:

• "Three secrets to success: Be willing to learn new things. Be able to assimilate new information quickly. Be able to get along with and work with other people."
• "All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary."
• "The thing I'll remember most about the flight is that it was fun."

Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010)

????????“Everybody is sitting around saying, 'Well, jeez, we need somebody to solve this problem of bias.' That somebody is us. We all have to try to figure out a better way to get along.”

Wilma Mankiller was the first woman elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and an activist for Native American and women’s rights.

She founded the Community Development Department for the Cherokee Nation. which funded community water systems and the rehabilitation of houses. Her tribe elected her chief in 1987, and four years later, they re-elected her in a landslide. During her two terms, she tripled her tribe’s enrollment, doubled employment, and built new housing, health centers, and children’s programs in northeast Oklahoma. Under her leadership, infant mortality declined and educational levels rose. Her leadership on social and financial issues made her tribe a national role model. Even after she left office in1995, she remained a strong voice for social justice, native people, and women around the globe.

Fast Facts About Wilma Mankiller :

• Grew up on Mankiller Farms, land given to her grandfather when his tribe was forcibly relocated
• Studied sociology and worked as a social worker early in her career
• Founded the Institute for Cherokee Literacy to help preserve the traditions and wisdom of her people
• Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998, the highest honor given to U.S. civilians
• Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993

Wilma Mankiller Quotes:

• “If you argue with a fool, someone passing by will not be able to tell, who is the fool, and who is not.”
• “I've run into more discrimination as a woman than as an Indian."
• “Cows run away from the storm while the buffalo charges toward it - and gets through it quicker. Whenever I’m confronted with a tough challenge, I do not prolong the torment, I become the buffalo.”
• “The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.”
• “Whoever controls the education of our children controls the future.”
• “Women in leadership roles can help restore balance and wholeness to our communities.”

Nina Otero-Warren (1881-1965)

??????“Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of the power that holds it hostage.”

Adelina “Nina” Otero-Warren was a passionate suffragette from New Mexico, where she became a leader in the efforts of the National Woman’s Party to organize the state. Descended from elite Hispanos, she emphasized the necessity of Spanish to enroll Hispanic women in the suffrage fight. She also spearheaded the lobbying effort to ratify the 19th Amendment in New Mexico.

She went on to serve as New Mexico’s first female government official and became the first Hispanic woman to run for Congress in 1922. She beat out a male opponent to win the Republican Party’s nomination, but lost the general election by fewer than 10,000 votes, largely due to the revelation that she was divorced rather than widowed.

Fast Facts About Nina Otero-Warren :

• First female superintendent of public schools in Santa Fe
• Published Old Spain in Our Southwest, a book of stories from her childhood in Los Lunas, in 1936
• Established Las Dos Realty and Insurance Company in 1947

Nina Otero-Warren Quotes:

• “It is to our best interests that we become educated according to the standards of the nation.”
• “I will keep out of the local fuss...but will take a stand and a firm one whenever necessary for I am with you now and always.”
• “Ratification of suffrage has been accomplished by the efforts of women all over the country. In every state, as was the case in New Mexico, women were the active element in bringing about ratification. We have a great reason to rejoice in the outcome of our efforts.”

My Commitment

I’ve learned so much while researching these amazing women on the quarters. I recently received my proof set for the 2022 honorees, and I love it. Why? It feels like a good way to continue the legacy of these remarkable trailblazers. It’s something tangible that I can share with my grandchildren and anyone else who will listen to me.

Every woman is a trailblazer in her own way—whether or not we’re featured on coins. We can’t be on a quarter while we’re living, but we sure can show the world who we are and what we believe in, and become advocates for transparency and equality.