The 2024 U.S. quarters are being readied for circulation, and Pauli Murray, a black woman civil rights activist, will be honored as part of the American Women Quarters Program.
It was announced by the US Mint that Pauli Murray will be in the designs when it is published in the middle of 2023.
According to The News & Observer, the Mint described the program as “the ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse group of individuals honored through this program reflects a wide range of accomplishments and fields, including suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and the arts.”
Pauli Murray is being honored for her contributions as a poet, writer, lawyer, and activist who fought against racial and sex discrimination. In 1977, Murray made history becoming the first Black woman in the U.S. to become an Episcopal priest. The activist co-founded the National Organization for Women alongside activists such as Betty Friedan.
“All of the women being honored have lived remarkable and multi-faceted lives, and have made a significant impact on our nation in their own unique way,” United States Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson said.
Pauli Murray joins a list of many notable women honorees that includes legendary “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz; Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color to hold a seat in Congress; Civil War surgeon Dr. Mary Edwards Walker; and writer, composer, educator, and politician Zitkala-Ša, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, who fought for Native Americans’ right to American citizenship and other civil rights.
