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Friday Slide Show: American Women Quarters
9 May 2025
We got into the habit of hoarding quarters when we used to carry our towering basket of laundry around the corner to the laundromat to do three loads in the time it takes to do one at home these days. The dryers, which didn't offer the same efficiency, also took quarters. So you could never have enough of them.
American Women Quarters. Captured handheld with an iPhone 15 Pro Max back triple camera in macro mode at 2.2mm, f2.2, 1/110 seconds and ISO 40 in available light. Processed in Lightroom's Adobe Camera Raw.
But these days we've found another reason to hoard them. They function, for us as little medallions of protest against an administration that can't stomach diversity, equity and inclusion.
How? Well, the designs on the reverse side of each quarter now celebrate exactly that, from early depictions of historic moments in U.S. history to traditional values like land stewardship (yep, that's what's engraved on it) to, as we show in today's slide show, American women.
We don't have the complete set but we treasure the few that have fallen into our hands. They include depictions of:
- Anna May Wong (2022), the first Asian American on U.S. currency.
- Nina Otero-Warren (2022), depicted with three Yucca flowers and the Spanish inscription "Voto para la mujer" (Vote for Women).
- Jovita Idar (2023), an American journalist depicted by her body made up of inscriptions representing her accomplishments and the newspapers for which she wrote.
- Maria Tallchief (2023), among the most renowned ballerinas of her time distingiushed by her courage, perseverance and character.
- Pauli Murray (2024), depicted as looking out through the letters of the word "hope" because she never lost hope in a world that has to change to embrace the rights of all humans.
The set through 2025 includes 20 Americans. We'll let you dig into your own pockets to find the rest of them.
