WomenOn20s.com names four female finalists in campaign to put a woman on the $20
Your $20 bill may look quite different soon!
WomenOn20s, an organization that believes it's about time a female was featured on paper money, has announced the final four candidates for the honor, USA Today reports. The goal is to make the change by 2020.
Over 256,600 people voted, and the results are in. The final four are Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks and Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller.
"Eleanor Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks were named by as many as half of the voters in the Primary Round as one of their top three! Because of strong public sentiment that people should have the choice of a Native American to replace Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Nation Chief Wilma Mankiller, was added to the final ballot."
Once a single name has been decided upon, the suggestion will be submitted to President Obama for consideration, ABC News explains.
The group hopes that their proposal is taken seriously, resulting in the presence of an important American female figure on cold, hard cash.
"We believe this simple, symbolic and long-overdue change could be an important stepping stone for other initiatives promoting gender equality," W20 says on its website. "Our money does say something about us, about what we value."
They're eying the $20 denomination specifically as its value is a nod to the 1920 ratification of female suffrage, as well as its upcoming 100-year anniversary.
Whether Andrew Jackson is fit to be on money at all is actually at the center of a heated debate.
USA Today writes that the 7th president was a "slave-owning military hero of 19th-century America who helped found Tennessee. He signed the notorious Indian Removal Act of 1830, which relocated several tribes to territory that now comprises Oklahoma, where Mankiller was born and lived until her death in 2010. More than 4,000 Cherokees died during the tribe's forced march by the U.S. Army in what became known as 'The Trail of Tears.'"
Jackson was also a fierce opponent of paper money (then called 'hard money'), and a central banking system, so letting his mug adorn the bill is a bit ironic.
WTAE points out that the $20 isn't the only bill that may look different soon. "The $10 bill -- which features Alexander Hamilton -- is on track for a makeover," the site explains. "A redesigned version is set to enter circulation in 2020, according to the Treasury Department."
Final voting for which woman should replace Jackson is going on now at WomenOn20s.org.
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