Maya Angelou: The First Black Woman On the U.S. Quarter

During the week of January 10th, Maya Angelou became the first Black woman on the U.S. Quarter and the first to enter circulation from the United States Mint’s series called American Women Quarters™ Program, which will release five unique quarters annually until 2025. The program features accomplished American women in various fields from government to science. 

Maya Angelou led a creative and influential life as a performer, playwright, activist, and poet, but she is most celebrated for her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a winner of the National Book Award. It tells of her life in the Jim Crow South, including the abuse and racism she endured during childhood. But not only did she pursue a career in the arts, for she taught American Studies at Wake Forest University and became the northern coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, appointed by Martin Luther King Jr. In her later years, Angelou received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama. At President Clinton’s inauguration, she recited “On the Pulse of Morning,” advocating for peace and the end of all division among human beings. On May 28, 2014, she passed away at 86.  

As for the Maya Angelou coin’s design, it alludes to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and all her works of poetry as Maya Angelou raises her arms upward in front of a sunrise, mirroring the bird’s wings in the background. So, when will these quarters be in your pocket? They are still just entering circulation, but you may visit a local bank and ask whether the quarters are in circulation near you already. 

The celebrated writer’s poems often bring awareness to the significance of justice to humanity, a subject reflected in her work through powerful women, Black beauty, and social and  political issues like the Vietnam War. As Maya Angelou is engraved on the U.S. quarter, her legacy and the messages of persistence and strength conveyed in her work continue to live on, as she said, “But still, like air, I'll rise.” 

By Katie Leslie