Which Historical Heroine Should Bump Andrew Jackson From The $20 Bill?

By Kristy Puchko | Miscellaneous | March 6, 2015 |

By Kristy Puchko | Miscellaneous | March 6, 2015 |

Andrew Jackson first appeared on the U.S.’s $20 bill in 1928, replacing Grover Cleveland. But his reign may soon come to an end, courtesy of the campaign Women on 20s. This group is calling on the government to swap out Jackson for a historical American heroine to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passing of the the 19th Amendment, which allowed women the right to vote.

The women of U.S. currency to date have been Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea, one’s dollar coin being replaced by the other’s, Helen Keller on Alabama’s state quarter, and Martha Washington alongside her husband in long-out of use currency. Women on 20s campaign hopes to have a woman on the twenty by 2020, noting that the prolific use of the $20 bill will spread awareness of women’s contribution to history in a subtle but needed way.

But which woman of American history should bump Jackson? And how will she be chosen? That’s up to you. On Women On 20s site, you can pick from the field of 15 candidates, which include suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton, abolitionist Sojourner Truth, environmentalist Rachel Carson, and birth control advocate Margaret Sanger.

Women’s History Month is a clever time to launch such an appeal. With #FilmHerStory taking off on Twitter, there’s loads more suggestions for women who might deserve their spot in American history commemorated. The conversation has begun. And while this may seem like web activism without a foot in real change, Women On 20s could well have an ally in President Obama.

Kristy Puchko is so damn glad it’s Friday.