The History of Money in the US - And the Faces of the New American Quarters Flex

When it comes to money in the U.S., there have been very few women represented. Not any more! In this class, we will take 4 weeks to look at the history of money in the U.S. and how it is changing! 

Week 1
 We will explore the history of U.S. currency, the different types of money that have been used and different currencies, how people are chosen to be on both paper money and coins, who are some of the people who have been proposed for money but were not put on either, and why things started changing in 2022. 

We will explore the 10 different women who chosen to be the new images: 


Week 2
2022
Maya Angelou – celebrated writer, performer, and social activist
Dr. Sally Ride – physicist, astronaut, educator, and first American woman in space
Wilma Mankiller – first woman elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation
Nina Otero-Warren – a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement and the first woman superintendent of Santa Fe public schools
Anna May Wong – first Chinese American film star in Hollywood


Week 3
2023
Bessie Coleman – first African American and first Native American woman pilot
Edith Kanakaʻole – indigenous Hawaiian composer, custodian of native culture and traditions
Eleanor Roosevelt – first lady, author, and civil liberties advocate
Jovita Idar – Mexican-American journalist, activist, teacher, and suffragist
Maria Tallchief – America’s first prima ballerina


Week 4
2024
Pauli Murray – poet, writer, activist, lawyer, and Episcopal priest
Patsy Takemoto Mink – first woman of color to serve in Congress
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker – Civil War surgeon, women’s rights advocate, and abolitionist
Celia Cruz – Cuban-American singer, cultural icon, and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century
Zitkala-Ša – writer, composer, educator, and political activist
Students will propose and nominate who they would like to see as the faces of 2025 quarters.