Put a woman on the $20 bill

It may always be “all about the Benjamins.” But maybe it should also be all about the Bartons, the Tubmans or the Roosevelts.

Clara Barton, the Civil War nurse who founded the American Red Cross; Harriet Tubman, who served as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad and a Union Army nurse during the Civil War; and Eleanor Roosevelt, who redefined the role of the First Lady and drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the U.S. delegate to the United Nations, are among 15 women who are offered as candidates to replace President Andrew Jackson on the U.S. $20 bill.

The effort, Women on 20s, seeks to replace Jackson with a woman important to U.S. history and culture, and it hopes to see the change to the $20 by 2020, when the 19th Amendment, giving women the vote, marks its 100th anniversary. While women’s suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony and Lewis and Clark expedition guide Sacagawea have been honored on the dollar coin, it would be the first time a woman would be so honored on U.S. paper currency.

Jackson was first placed on the $20 note in 1924, bumping off President Grover Cleveland. The U.S. $20 was last redesigned by the U.S. Treasury in 2003, so it’s due for a new look and new anti-counterfeiting features that were added to Benjamin Franklin’s $100 bill in 2013.

The campaign makes a couple arguments for removing Jackson, one of which would likely please Old Hickory, himself; Jackson was a critic of the central banking system and favored gold and silver coinage over paper money. While Jackson was celebrated for his victories in the War of 1812, as president he also was responsible for ruthlessly enforcing the Indian Removal Act of 1830, also referred to as the Trail of Tears, which forced Indian tribes from their ancestral homelands in the southern U.S. to Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. Few figures in U.S. history are without their flaws, but there were better choices than he for the $20.

Admittedly the list of 15 women suggested by Women on 20s, which offers an online ballot asking people to choose three candidates for further consideration at womenon20s.org, leans to the left. Among the candidates are Margaret Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood and “Feminine Mystique” author Betty Friedan. Including some candidates more palatable to the right would have broadened the campaign’s appeal. But there are candidates who can find support among left and right, including abolitionist Sojourner Truth and women’s rights pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Women on 20s hopes to gather 100,000 petition signatures to forward to President Barack Obama and the Treasury Department, which would have the final say.

One hundred years after women secured the right to vote, it’s appropriate to honor their contributions to our history and society by honoring one of them with a small paper portrait we carry with us.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Tuesday, March 19

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Students use a 3D model to demonstrate their groups traffic solutions at Hazelwood Elementary School on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Your choice, drivers; slow down or pay up

More traffic cameras will soon be in use in cities and highways, with steep penalties for violations.

Protect Affordable Care Act by rejecting Trump

The stakes are high in this year’s presidential election. If candidate Donald… Continue reading

Support candidates who support schools

I promised I would stop writing these letters because the gates of… Continue reading

Biden must stop supplying weapons to Israel, Ukraine

Bad foreign policy will come back to haunt us in the long… Continue reading

Comment: Flow of U.S. guns into Mexico is other border crisis

Guns, legal and illegal, are contributing to crime and instability in Mexico, driving many to seek asylum.

RGB version
Editorial cartoons for Monday, March 18

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Carson gets a chance to sound the horn in an Everett Fire Department engine with the help of captain Jason Brock during a surprise Make-A-Wish sendoff Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, at Thornton A. Sullivan Park in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: Everett voters will set course for city finances

This fall and in coming years, they will be asked how to fund and support the services they use.

Devotees of TikTok, Mona Swain, center, and her sister, Rachel Swain, right, both of Atlanta, monitor voting at the Capitol in Washington, as the House passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app if its China-based owner doesn't sell, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Lawmakers contend the app's owner, ByteDance, is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok's consumers in the U.S. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Editorial: Forced sale of TikTok ignores network of problems

The removal of a Chinese company would still leave concerns for data privacy and the content on apps.

Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, watches the State of the State speech by Gov. Jay Inslee on the second day of the legislative session at the Washington state Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Olympia, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Editorial: Legislature has its own production of ‘The Holdovers’

What state lawmakers left behind in good ideas that should get more attention and passage next year.

Comment: Measles outbreaks show importance of MMR vaccinations

The highly contagious disease requires a 95 percent vaccination rate to limit the spread of outbreaks.

Harrop: Should ‘affordable’ come at cost of quality of living?

As states push their cities to ignore zoning rules, the YIMBYs are covering for developers.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.