On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury announced that the new face on the $10 bill will belong to a woman. It should be a nice change from “ancient white guy with old-timey facial hair”!
Who will that woman be, U.S. Treasury? “Oh, um … some lady … !” Good — glad y’all have narrowed that down! Luckily, Grist is willing to step in. Allow us to present our candidates:
- Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring and one of the founders of the environmental movement
- Dolores Huerta, early activist for farmworkers’ rights
- Cecilia Fire Thunder, first female president of the Oglala Sioux in South Dakota and supporter of family planning access for her tribe
- Sally Ride, first American* woman in space
- Maya Angelou, poet, memoirist, and trailblazer for African-American literature
- Sara Jane Lippincott, b.k.a. Grace Greenwood, feminist, abolitionist, and first woman reporter for the New York Times
- Rosa Parks, one of the founders of the Civil Rights Movement
- Amelia Earhart, first female aviator to cross the Atlantic
- Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, early labor organizer and champion of workers’ rights
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, first Jewish woman to become Justice of the Supreme Court
Clearly, this is by no means a comprehensive list — give us your suggestions!
*CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated that Sally Ride was the first woman in space, when that honor actually belongs to Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova. The author has been sent to Siberia’s massive hole at the end of the world as punishment.
