Maya Angelou is the first woman of color on the US quarter

By: Ryan Oswald, Staff Reporter, The Pawprint

The United States Treasury has produced new coins that depict poet Maya Angelou – she is the first black woman to be featured on the face of American currency. 

Angelou was the first black woman to write and recite a poem at a presidential inauguration. The US coins are planned to portray and represent other pioneering women. 

The design of the new currency was coined by the first woman secretary of the US Treasury. 

Janet Yellen, a government official that serves the US Treasury, says, “Each time we design our currency, we have the chance to say something about our country – what we value, and how we’ve progressed as a society,”

Angelou was a famous poet and social activist and has received dozens of honorary awards. Of those including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US citizen award, which was given to her by former President Barack Obama. 

Coins are also expected to be released throughout the next 4 years outlining more less known women of US history; such as Sally Ride (the first female astronaut) and Wilma Mankiller (the first female chief of the Cherokee nation).

There have been plans rumored to replace famous presidential faces on the dollar bills as well, such as Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill instead of President Andrew Jackson. On the gold dollar, there is a representation of Sacagawea, a Native American explorer.