Former U.S. President Andrew Jackson is about to vacate his coveted spot as the face of the $20 bill.
U.S. Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew made the announcement on Wednesday as he confirmed that Harriet Tubman – the African-American civil rights activist and abolitionist, is in line to replace Jackson – a decision that supports the mission of the Obama administration – to have a woman featured on a paper currency.
There are also plans to add more images of noteworthy women as well as historical figures that played integral roles during the civil rights era.
During an interview with ABC News, Lews added more color around the ongoing process, “We are putting a woman on the 20, the 10, and the 5 and we are going to move as quickly as we can get all of these bills out there”.”
The long overdue revisions won’t displace Alexander Hamilton who will remain on the $10 bill for the time being.
The reluctance to replace Hamilton stems from his renewed popularity thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Broadway musical, Hamilton that just recently garnered the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Miranda aggressively petitioned for Hamilton to remain on the $10 bill and even tweeted the fact that he had met with Lew to discuss the matter further.
But, not everyone agrees with the decision to keep Hamilton – high-profile celebs like Ellen DeGeneres, Katie Couric and Gloria Steinem were among a slew of women that penned an open letter expressing the urgency of picking a woman for the $10 bill since the revamped $20 bill will undoubtedly take at least up to a decade to finalize.
Either way – things seem to be moving in the right direction – one step at a time.