Today, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin unveiled the design for the new dollar coin at a White House ceremony honoring Native American women and their accomplishments.
Many of you who didn't grow up in the Northwest might be asking who this woman was, but growing up in Eastern Washington State, I attended Lewis and Clark Elementary School and we learned about the two explorers and their native guide to whom we owed so much.
Now we have a stunning new coin to immortalize her and introduce her legend to many new generations of (Non-Pacific Northwestern) Americans. There are a number of "firsts" about this coin. It is the first to feature a person looking over their shoulder and the first to depict a child. But the most important feature is that this coin features a Native American woman!
The only downside is that this new coin will replace the Susan B. Anthony Dollar when it is released in 2000. The coin bearing her likeness, like Ms. Anthony herself, was a groundbreaking pioneer. It was first assailed by many Americans who didn't think that any woman should appear on our money unless she was scantily-clad like Columbia or Liberty. Also contributing to the negative reaction toward the coin was the sexist fight against the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) that was going on around the same time. My father used to go to the bank to get them specifically because some merchants tried to refuse to take them. That's illegal in this country and of course they always relented in the end.
Now, finally, we have seen widespread acceptance of the coin including vending machines so perhaps the Sacagawea Dollar will not have quite so difficult a time. I can't wait to get my hands on them and all of the other new coins our mint is producing (have you seen the new quarters?).
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