Several trailblazing American women will appear on new quarters in 2022 as part of a program celebrating the accomplishments and contributions made by women.
Beginning this year, and continuing through 2025, the U.S. Mint will issue up to five new designs each year, honoring the women on the reverse, or tails, side of the coins.
Each design is emblematic of the accomplishments of one prominent woman.
Here are the first women being honored:
Maya Angelou
The Maya Angelou quarter is the first coin issued under the American Women Quarters Program in 2022.
The celebrated writer, performer and social activist rose to international fame after the publication of her autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” The award-winning author’s published works include more than 30 bestselling titles.
Angelou was the first African American woman to write and present a poem at a presidential inauguration when she read “On the Pulse of Morning” at the 1992 inauguration of President Clinton.
She also served as northern coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the request of Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The coin depicts Angelou with her arms lifted and with a bird and a rising sun behind her, inspired by her poetry.
Dr. Sally Ride
The physicist, astronaut and educator became the first American woman in space when she blasted off aboard Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983.
She received many honors during her life, including induction into the Astronaut Hall of Fame, National Women’s Hall of Fame and Aviation Hall of Fame.
The Dr. Sally Ride Quarter is the second coin in the program, and features her in uniform next to a window on the space shuttle.
The coin features the inscription “E PLURIBUS UNUM” over the Earth, next to America, indicating that she was the first American woman in space.
Wilma Mankiller
The third coin in the American Women Quarters Program features Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Mankiller was a prominent activist for Native American and women’s rights who was elected chief in 1987, bringing improvements in employment, housing, health and education.
Mankiller received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 and she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.
Nina Otero-Warren
The Nina Otero-Warren quarter is the fourth coin in the program.
Otero-Warren was a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement and the first female superintendent of Santa Fe public schools who emphasized the importance of using the Spanish language in the suffrage fight in order to reach Hispanic women.
She also spearheaded the effort to ratify the 19th Amendment in New Mexico.
The coin features an image of Nina Otero-Warren flanked by three Yucca flowers, New Mexico’s state flower.
Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong was the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood. She is featured on the fifth coin.
She appeared in more than 60 movies throughout her career, including in silent films, television and on stage.
The coin features a close-up image of Anna May Wong with her head resting on her hand, surrounded by the bright lights of a marquee sign.
The obverse, or heads side, of all of the coins will have a likeness of George Washington, but featuring a different design sculpted by Laura Gardin Fraser, one of the most prolific female sculptors of the early 20th century.
Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, introduced the legislation directing the Treasury Department to create the program.
“For too long, many of the women who have contributed to our country’s history have gone unrecognized, especially women of color,” Lee said in a statement after the first two honorees were announced. “I am pleased to see that the first women to be recognized under my bill are outstanding individuals in the fields of science and literature: Dr. Sally Ride and Dr. Maya Angelou.”