By Melissa Jones / Women’s Museum of California

[In 2016] our country received some exciting news: Eight women will soon be represented on our money. Why is this exciting? Open up your wallet and you will see green paper bills with white men in the center of them. We carry these faces everywhere with us; they enable us to provide our loved ones with food, shelter and protection. These face represent the heart of America, it’s greatest accomplishments and heroes folded into our wallets.

The lack of women on currency is a continual trend of erasing women and their accomplishments from US history. From the term “founding fathers’ to the faces of Mount Rushmore, from the books we read in history class  to the faces on our money, women’s stories and experiences are absent. Since the very beginning of our country women have shaped this nation just as much as men and it is time to acknowledge that truth. If money reflects what we as a country value then I am excited that we are now displaying how valuable women’s contributions to the United States have been.

With that in mind meet the eight influential women who will be portrayed on the new 20, 10, and 5 dollar bills:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Editor’s note: According to a recent article by CNN, it could still be some time before the above women are placed on U.S. currency. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is quoted by CNBC as saying that Tubman’s placement on the bill is “not something that I’m focused on at the moment.”