Take the poll: which woman would YOU put on the currency?
April 26, 2010 by Suzanne Scoggins, Director of Women's History · 29 Comments »
Update 4/27/2010: Wow, this poll is getting a lot of attention! We’ve gotten hundreds of votes just in the past few hours. Keep ‘em coming — it’s extremely interesting to see who people think would be a good choice for our currency.
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Yesterday on our Facebook page people started talking about which women should go on the U.S. currency. I thought it would be interesting to do a poll on the issue.
The women on this list are based on suggestions I’ve seen in a variety of places. You can choose as many as you like. I’m thinking of paper currency, by the way, not coinage. And if you have a person in mind who isn’t listed, tell us about it in the comments!
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29 Responses
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David in Ohio says:
Jeannette Rankin embodies so much of the strength women bring to causes that matter and to government service. Strength is a quality that should be pictured on U. S. currency. Read about her beliefs and her behavior in Congress and most would see the logic. (Please note the correct spelling of her name.)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/RankinJ.jpgApril 26th, 2010 at 7:42 pm EST -
Laughing Collie says:
I would like to suggest Matilda Joslyn Gage — for the simple reason that she is currently quietly being written out of the story of women gaining suffrage. Just because a radical woman scares those in the status quo does not mean she deserves to be historically obliterated!
Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Stady Canton, AND Matilda Joslyn Gage wrote the Women’s Declaration of Rights in 1876. Gage was a brilliant thinker and prolific author who wanted rights for woman because it was their “natural right,” not because women would supposedly positively influence men. She believed in general social reform and the separation of church and state, and she spoke out often against the hypocrisy of the various christian churches of that time. She supported Native American rights, and was admitted into the Iroquois Council of Matrons. She believed women should have the right to make their own decisions concerning their bodies and their lives.
Gage was also the inspiration for scientific historian Margaret W. Rossiter’s 1993 term: the “Matilda effect,” i.e. the unjust situation where woman scientists unfairly receive less credit for their scientific work than objective examination of their actual work shows they deserve.
Matilda Joslyn Gage: definitely a woman ahead of her time.
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Normita Fenn says:
Eleanor Roosevelt gets my #1 vote, but Harriet Tubman is very deserving as well.
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Ruthie Berman says:
I voted for Eleanor. I think she has the best chance. Her name alone brings positive thoughts. she’s still know by most Americans.
We would have to educate most of the population about who are the rest of the women on the list
And hopefully if this does becomes a reality it isn’t a “coin”. -
admin says:
Thank you, David; I did know that Jeannette Rankin has two Ns in her first name, but I messed up typing. I also typed the post title backwards, so it’s been that kind of day.
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Suzanne Scoggins, EVE Director of Communications says:
Good call on Matilda Joslyn Gage. She’s like Victoria Woodhull: too radical for her times, but much more in tune with what we today would call feminism.
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Suzanne Scoggins, EVE Director of Communications says:
Eleanor Roosevelt is really popular!
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elephant lover says:
Eleanor did it all. She transcended class, race and gender, and cared for all people.
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Go take this poll | Reclusive Leftist says:
[...] They’re running a poll over at the EVE blog: Which woman would YOU put on the currency? [...]
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Rochelle says:
Laughing Collie – thanks for the post on Matilda Joslyn Gage! I didn’t know much about her, now I’m looking her up.
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Tom Doyle says:
Just wanted to ditto Laughing Collie on Matilda Joslyn Gage–found out about her from studying her son-in-law, L. Frank Baum.
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Delphyne says:
Eleanor and Sojourner on paper bills.
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Phil says:
I would also suggest Ida B. Wells.
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teresainpa says:
The first woman President gets my vote. Unfortunately for the Democratic party she will probably be a republican. The DNC has proven that even when a woman is the choice of the voters she will not get the nomination if they will stop her by any means possible.
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gxm17 says:
I’d have liked to see Shirley Chisholm on the list. I have a soft spot for her. As a young girl I was always told that a woman could never be president. It was unthinkable. Chisolm’s 1972 run for the Democratic nomination filled me with an awe and admiration that I’ll never forget.
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stoller says:
Amelia Earhart.
First, because they will never put a woman there who did something (from the majority view) only for women, and secondly, will never put a woman on whose fame isn’t an achievement in something men do.
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Suzanne Scoggins, EVE Director of Communications says:
gxm17, Shirley Chisholm is a hero of mine too.
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DancesWithPumas says:
We would have to educate most of the population about who are the rest of the women on the list
That would be better than letting them believe only the same commonly recognized 10 women ever accomplished anything worthy of recognition. Without educating women, girls, and others, about the accomplishments of many, many women, their names will be lost to history (again).
Thank you, EVE, for all your work toward the recognition / visibility of women.
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spooner says:
Emma Goldman
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marille says:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Her reading the 11 sentinents at the first women’s convention in 1848 started the movement advancing women’s rights, just as Hillary’s “women’s rights are human rights” accurately describes that violating women’s rights means treating us as subhuman.
there are so many worthy women. Ida Wells as journalist being threatened to be lynched was the driving forth to stop lynching. if we could be equally effective to stop rape completely and make it unthinkable to happen in a civilized society.
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zrusilla says:
One of my friends suggested Betty White.
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B. Dagger Lee says:
Medea!
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sonrisa says:
I voted for Eleanor Roosevelt too. She was more like a co-Prez than a FLOTUS, plus she was a UN Ambassador. Very accomplished woman. Abbigail Adams was a sort of co-Prez as well, & of course there’s Edith Wilson, arguably the 1st woman Prez (for those of you pushing for a female Prez) I’m still going with Eleanor, however.
I was in school when Shirley Chisholm made her historical run, & I thought that- & she- were just awesome. Shirley would be a good pick to put on a bill too,
to Tom Doy;e- thanx for the info about Gage & Baum. I woonder if her influence ahd any effect on him making his Everyman an Everywoman- in the character of Dorothy (let’s put her on a bill too!
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admin says:
B. Dagger Lee, I think Medea might be a better choice for a line of Mother’s Day cards.
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zrusilla says:
Another friend came up with a brilliant suggestion: Dorothy Parker, replacing “In God We Trust” with her quip “If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.”
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lambert strether says:
Betty Dukes:
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cellocat says:
I also think that Matilda Roslyn Gage is a great choice. She believed, among other things, that it’s important to look back as well as forward, and to look for inspiration in unusual places. She had close ties to the Mohawk (as I recall), and saw the destruction of women’s rights (to marry and divorce as they chose, hold property, etc) in the Iroquois League after they were made citizens of the US instead of allies.
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oceans says:
I’m late to the party, but I wish Barbara Jordan had been one of the options. She was my first political idol.
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ryan says:
Emily Dickinson
