The First Black Woman to Appear on the U.S. Quarter, Maya Angelou
(Text from Instagram post reads:
One of my absolute favorite poets, Maya Angelou, is now on the US quarter!!!! This is a part of the new American Women Quarters Program. I’ve never collected quarters before but now I will. 🥳💛 To me, this is more of a symbolic historical event that represents the building of a bridge rather than a wall. Representation and recognition matter.
The US Mint announced that the new quarter featuring Maya Angelou was the first to go into circulation on Monday (1/10/2022), making the legendary poet and activist the first Black woman ever to appear on the coin.
The Maya Angelou quarter is the first in the American Women Quarters Program, which will include coins featuring prominent women in American history including Sally Ride, an astronaut who was the first American woman in space; Asian American actress Anna May Wong; Cherokee Nation leader Wilma Mankiller and suffragette and politician Nina Otero-Warren.
Other quarters in the series will begin rolling out later this year and through 2025, the Mint said in a release on Monday.
Sources: US Mint, NPR)
Earlier this year, the U.S Treasury minted coins featuring poet Maya Angelou. She is the first Black woman to ever be depicted on U.S currency.
Learn more about the symbolism behind the imagery on the coin in this interview with U.S Mint artist, Emily S. Damstra.
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