By: JACK M.
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George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant and Benjamin Franklin are the images that currently adorn the $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 American banknotes. Five presidents, one Secretary of the Treasury and a renowned scientist, all great in their own right, all guaranteed of their place in history and all deserving of their images on American banknotes. And they are all men. Even larger denominated notes that are no longer in circulation and that depicted an image of a well-known American all had images of men – a $1,000 note was graced with Grover Cleveland, a $5,000 note had an image of James Madison and a $10,000 note pictured Salmon P. Chase. And again, they were all great…men.
Maybe it’s time for a change. Maybe it’s time to recognize some of the great American women who contributed in no small way to the history and the accomplishments of what is arguably the greatest nation on Earth. After all, other countries have graced their banknotes with some of their eminent women (although there is still a preponderance of male images). Argentina, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland all have – or have had – renderings of some of their distinguished female heroes. And there is a lively discussion in Canada to portray some of that country’s great women on its money. So, what do you think? Is it time to give equal space to Amelia Earhart, or maybe Maya Angelou, or Rosa Parks or Helen Keller, or to any of the hundreds of great American women who made America great? Here’s an admittedly very small list of possibilities. If you’d like a brief bio of any of the candidates, scroll down past the voting platform, and if we left anyone out who you think should be included, send us your comments.
Now, scroll down to the voting platform. You can select any one (or any two, if you want a split vote) by clicking on the name or the image of your candidate, and then simply click on the button that says “VOTE”. Your selection(s) will be recorded immediately. If you want to see the results so far, click on “View Results” and then “Return to poll” to make your selection.
[socialpoll id=”2339460″ path=”/polls/2339460″ width=”325″]
- Maya Angelou – author, poet civil rights activist.
- Susan B. Anthony – social reformer, advocate for women’s suffrage.
- Nellie Bly – journalist, record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days.
- Rachel Carson – conservationist, environmentalist.
- Amelia Earhart – record-breaking aviation pioneer.
- Helen Keller – deaf and blind political activist.
- Rosa Parks – civil rights activist.
- Sally Ride – astronaut, first American woman in space.
Image source: cdn.turner.com
