I’m for Wilma Mankiller.
Agree! Never heard of her until today. Thanks, Shodan.
Ostrom would be a good choice, to symbolize the tug-of-war between individualism and community spirit which pervades so much of US history and character.
As to her direct influence, she is well known among anthropologists and human geographers, and philosophers of environmentalism (and also among political scientists who debate neoliberalism). Not sure about elsewhere.
But many - most of those people were also statesmen. I can see a case for Grace Hopper, scientist and dedicated her life to the service of her country. MAYBE Sally Ride - but she was an acknowledged token to start with. But Hedy Lamar? (who did NOT invent WiFi any more than Al Gore invented the internet) She was a smart woman who did invent something valuable and interesting - no reason to set her up for the Al Gore treatment, to borrow laurels she does not need on her behalf, only to have someone knock them off her head) A scientist or engineer merely because she’s was a scientist or an engineer?
IF you pick a female scientist who had an impact on our political lives, it should probably be Elizabeth Blackwell - the first female physician and a noted suffragist.
Which is why I said you’d have to wait a few years for O’Connor.
I totally disagree. The more variants of bills & redesigns of bills makes it easier to counterfeit as people don’t know if what they’re getting is real. I’ve gotten a new $20 from an ATM or in change, noticed it was different & just assumed that they’ve made another change to the currency. Do this enough, & I’ll be able to slip in bills from Monopoly &, if questioned, say that they’re the latest redesign.
Hmm. Should I use my power of invisibility for good or evil…?
I heard an interview this morning with a direct descendant of Alexander Hamilton, who made the good argument about putting a woman on the $20 and replacing Andrew Jackson instead, for a whole host of reasons (i.e. Jackson tried to subvert the U.S. Bank and hated the idea of paper money, in addition to the whole slaveholding and trail of tears things).
Besides, I might add (as a hetero male), Hamilton makes our currency look good! And it goes without saying that he helped establish our national banking system.
So, we need a movement to start: “Hey hey! Ho, ho! Put the woman on the 20, yo!” (the slogan needs work).
As for the woman who is so honored, I’m in favor of Sojourner Truth. Badass name. Badass woman.
If we want a female scientist, Stephanie Kwolek could do, or several of the women involved in the Manhattan Project.
For a war hero, there’s Molly Pitcher, Deborah Sampson, Margaret Corbin, or Mary Edwards Walker.
For a “symbolic” figure, there’s Rosie the Riveter, Lady Liberty(what, a goddess ain’t good enough for ya?), Columbia (ditto), or, for a modern take, the Goddess of Democracy. (Better Dead than Red)
And, of course, if you want a more “classical” angle, there’s always Betsy Ross.
That’s not even a remotely similar comparison.
Although Al Gore didn’t actually say he “invented” the Internet:
… that’s still some pretty impressive bullshitting. Basically he supported legislation that then led to the possibility of other people developing technology that would lead to other people “inventing” the Internet.
Hedy Lamarr, on the other hand, came up with the idea of frequency hopping herself and developed the technology with George Antheil (a composer).
So no, she didn’t “invent wifi”, but she invented the technology that made wifi a possibility. That’s far more involved than Al Gore’s “role” in inventing the Internet.
In support of my earlier endorsement for Sojorner Truth, I noticed today that the last name of the person on the currency has their last name written below their portrait.
Imagine this lovely face on the $10.00, with the word “Truth” written below it.
Pret-tay cool. I’m just sayin’…
…
Maybe the plan is to put a woman on the $10.00, and then move Hamilton to his deserved spot on the $20.00, where he will replace that undeserving Andrew Jackson, which will fully correct the current currency injustice!
Ha! No offense. I saw the title of the thread and popped in without reading the thread just to post the Dolezal link.
FTR, the people who actually did invent the Internet have gone on record adding Gore was an invaluable advocate in Congress and deserves much credit for getting funding long before most representatives knew what it was.
As for a woman on a bill, anybody is better than the asshole currently on the $20. I’d vote for Elenore. Keep Hamilton on the $10.
Edit: perhaps a good solution, if Hamilton is to remain, is to have a group portrait of all the major suffragettes, similar to the back of the $2.
Or “the bathtub” at the U.S. Capitol: Reverend Jeffrey's Story of History: In Praise of Three Women in a Bathtub
Who said that? looks around
How about Marilyn Monroe? I hear she worked closely with JFK and Bobby.
While I know that the limitations of the past mean many of the US’s powerful women have been First Ladies, I’d really like someone who didn’t get their influence as a result of their husband.
Why should they limit it to just one woman? They could do like they did with the whole State Quarters thing and feature fifty or one hundred different women. There is no shortage of worthy candidates, and they could even have “series” featuring humanitarians, scientists, musicians, artists, etc.
As a bonus, all of the collectors who would pull $500 or $1000 out of the banking system and just sit on it? Wouldn’t that help the national debt?
Vince Cerf and Robert Kahn
http://web.eecs.umich.edu/~fessler/misc/funny/gore,net.txt
Hedy Lamarr helped invent a technology later used for WiFi. She didn’t “invent” wifi. Frequency hopping on its own was an important innovation that helped win WWII. We don’t need to borrow laurels for her, her own are quite impressive. As are Mr. Gore’s regarding the internet. And when you borrow laurels it becomes so much easier to rip them off, and take some of what you actually did earn with them - see Mr. Gore.
Extremely few people would do that. You can’t make collectors editions from valuable notes.
One reason is counterfeiting. It’s harder to fake a bill when people know exactly what it’s supposed to look like. The more different designs, the easier it is to fool people.
Another reason is machine recognition. ATMs, vending machines, ticket kiosks and the like have to be able to read a bill and determine its denomination. Every time the treasury comes out with a new design these machines have to be reprogrammed. That would be a pretty big job if they came out with fifty new designs, as opposed to just one.
Coins are different. Counterfeiters rarely bother with coins, because it’s too much work for too little payback. Machines recognize different coins by their size and weight, not by the pictures on them.