# What famous woman would you like to see on the $20 bill? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 23, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776 "2015-03-23T15:12:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/101 "2015-03-24T19:29:32Z")
I’d be fine with Tubman, but would prefer Sojourner Truth. Tubman \*directly \*helped more people, yes, but Truth \*convinced \*far more souls and was more of a leader. I’d also rather see Bessie Coleman than Amelia Earhart. She overcame much more, in the same field. And I’d rather see all the denominations opened to changes, or at least one of them. If there are 50 different quarters, why not 50 different twenties? Jackson does have to go, though, and Jefferson wasn’t really any better despite his gift of rhetoric. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/102 "2015-03-24T23:08:23Z")
Mahalia Jackson, obviously. Keeps the Jackson name, reflects USA culture, and drives certain people up the wall. ---
**Author:** ![tuesdayweld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@tuesdayweld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tuesdayweld)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/103 "2015-03-24T23:49:51Z")
Madalyn Murray O’Hair. Of course the ‘in god we trust’ would have to be nixed. Maybe we could just do it for the $20? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/104 "2015-03-25T04:10:57Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I’d be fine with Tubman, but would prefer Sojourner Truth. Tubman \*directly \*helped more people, yes, but Truth \*convinced \*far more souls and was more of a leader… Yes, that’s why I picked Truth. Along the same lines, how about Harriet Beecher Stowe. Isn’t she the one Abraham Lincoln referred to as “the little woman who started this big war”? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/105 "2015-03-25T04:24:42Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Really? Harriet Tubmand, Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt didn’t accomplish much with their lives? Of those 3 only Harriet Tubman can you say would be famous even if she had been a man. Rosa Parks was just an accident in history and E. Roosevelt would be nothing if she hadn’t been married to the president. Amelia Earhart - she’s only famous because she was a woman making a long flight. My choice - Maude from the old tv show. Then everyone can pull out a $20 and say “and then theirs Maude”. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/106 "2015-03-25T05:53:03Z")
Rosa Parks was an actual activist, though. Not a Salmon P. Chase, I suppose, but more than an accident. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/107 "2015-03-25T07:41:59Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Janis Joplin > Mama Cass > Virginia Masters Wendy O Williams maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/108 "2015-03-25T09:39:38Z")
[Deborah Sampson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Sampson) [Margaret Corbin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Corbin) [Frances Clalin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Clalin) [June Foray](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Foray) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/109 "2015-03-25T10:39:32Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Rosa Parks was an actual activist, though. Not a Salmon P. Chase, I suppose, but more than an accident. Yes, I learned something. I’d still vote for Sojourner Truth, who was something of the Martin Luther King Jr. of her time. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/110 "2015-03-25T12:54:18Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Wendy O Williams maybe? How about Wendy Carlos? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/111 "2015-03-25T12:57:19Z")
Georgina Spelvin. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/112 "2015-03-25T14:41:13Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Of those 3 only Harriet Tubman can you say would be famous even if she had been a man. Rosa Parks was just an accident in history and E. Roosevelt would be nothing if she hadn’t been married to the president… Rosa Parks was not just some random person who happened to be arrested on a bus. She was an active member of the civil rights movement prior to her arrest. > [@](#): > > Parks’ act of defiance and the Montgomery Bus Boycott became important symbols of the modern Civil Rights Movement. She became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. She organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including Edgar Nixon, president of the local chapter of the NAACP; and Martin Luther King, Jr., a new minister in town who gained national prominence in the civil rights movement. > > At the time, Parks was secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. She had recently attended the Highlander Folk School, a Tennessee center for training activists for workers’ rights and racial equality. She acted as a private citizen “tired of giving in”. Although widely honored in later years, she also suffered for her act; she was fired from her job as a seamstress in a local department store, and received death threats for years afterwards. I don’t know why you insist on calling Rosa Parks’ arrest an accident of history. She took a stand against oppression, do you think the protester who faced down Chinese tanks at Tianeman Square was just walking across the street when he happened to be photographed? I’ve noticed that a lot of dopers casually dismiss the accomplishments of women, as if being a black woman in the south in the fifties meant Rosa had it easy; she accomplished a lot through bravery and determination despite being a woman in an oppressive society, not because she was a woman. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/113 "2015-03-25T15:09:06Z")
Shirley Temple (as a child). She did more than anyone else, to raise the spirits of people during a dark period of U.S. history. Alternate: Bette Davis, as “Baby Jane.” ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/114 "2015-03-25T15:27:33Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Really? Harriet Tubmand, Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt didn’t accomplish much with their lives? Harriet Tubman was an incredibly brave woman who risked her life to free 80 people from slavery. However, tens of thousands of slaves were freed by the underground railroad and she is the only name we know. Others such as William Still were more instrumental in the Underground railroad and helped many more than Tubman. Other people on money such as Lincoln and Grant freed millions of slaves. Her popularity would just show how much lower the bar is for a woman. Rosa Parks showed great bravery in volunteering to be the symbol of the bus boycott. But there were others much more important in the struggle and if she had not volunteered someone else would have and history would be pretty much unchanged. Eleanor Roosevelt had the great fortune of marrying a great man when she was seventeen. As far as I can tell the most she contributed to his election was not divorcing him for his numerous infidelities. FDR is on the dime for helping to win the war and literally save the world from Hitler, that is an accomplishment. Marrying someone who would do that forty years later is just luck. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/115 "2015-03-25T16:02:56Z")
> **[Georgia Neese Clark Gray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Neese_Clark)** > > Georgia Neese Clark Gray (January 27, 1898 – October 26, 1995) was an American actress and banker who served as the 29th treasurer of the United States from 1949 to 1953, and was the first woman to hold that office. > Georgia Neese was born in Richland, Kansas, the daughter of Albert Neese, a farmer and businessman, and Ella Sullivan Neese, a stay-at-home mother. Her father, a self-made man, had prospered in the years before her birth and become the town's leading citizen, owning much of its prope... Georgia Neese Gray, the first woman treasurer of the United States. Seems a no brainer. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/116 "2015-03-25T18:59:04Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Harriet Tubman was an incredibly brave woman who risked her life to free 80 people from slavery. However, tens of thousands of slaves were freed by the underground railroad and she is the only name we know. Others such as William Still were more instrumental in the Underground railroad and helped many more than Tubman. Other people on money such as Lincoln and Grant freed millions of slaves. Her popularity would just show how much lower the bar is for a woman. > Rosa Parks showed great bravery in volunteering to be the symbol of the bus boycott. But there were others much more important in the struggle and if she had not volunteered someone else would have and history would be pretty much unchanged. > Eleanor Roosevelt had the great fortune of marrying a great man when she was seventeen. As far as I can tell the most she contributed to his election was not divorcing him for his numerous infidelities. FDR is on the dime for helping to win the war and literally save the world from Hitler, that is an accomplishment. Marrying someone who would do that forty years later is just luck. By that line of reasoning, Roosevelt killed more people in WWII than Audie Murphy. I’d say that Harriet became famous for being a badass, more than because she had the chance to make large change. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/117 "2015-03-25T19:01:32Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Harriet Tubman was an incredibly brave woman who risked her life to free 80 people from slavery. However, tens of thousands of slaves were freed by the underground railroad and she is the only name we know. Others such as William Still were more instrumental in the Underground railroad and helped many more than Tubman. Other people on money such as Lincoln and Grant freed millions of slaves. Her popularity would just show how much lower the bar is for a woman. > Rosa Parks showed great bravery in volunteering to be the symbol of the bus boycott. But there were others much more important in the struggle and if she had not volunteered someone else would have and history would be pretty much unchanged. > Eleanor Roosevelt had the great fortune of marrying a great man when she was seventeen. As far as I can tell the most she contributed to his election was not divorcing him for his numerous infidelities. FDR is on the dime for helping to win the war and literally save the world from Hitler, that is an accomplishment. Marrying someone who would do that forty years later is just luck. Well, Grant and Lincoln had the great fortune to be born white males in the 1800s, in retrospect Tubman probably should have had the forsight to do the same, she probably would have gone farther in poitics. BTW, she also is the first woman to have lead an armed raid during the civil war. FDR, not only had the good fortune to be born white and male, but also into a prominent political family. So he, more than Eleanor, benefited by his familial ties. I’ll leave aside your assertion that FDR stopped hitler, the Red Army might disagree. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/118 "2015-03-25T19:22:20Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Well, Grant and Lincoln had the great fortune to be born white males in the 1800s, in retrospect Tubman probably should have had the forsight to do the same, she probably would have gone farther in poitics. BTW, she also is the first woman to have lead an armed raid during the civil war. > > FDR, not only had the good fortune to be born white and male, but also into a prominent political family. So he, more than Eleanor, benefited by his familial ties. I’ll leave aside your assertion that FDR stopped hitler, the Red Army might disagree. Harriet Tubman had been born with both legs, if she had not we probably would not have heard of her. If I had been born back then and had the powers of Superman, I would have flown around the south and personally ended slavery without the Civil War happening, maybe we should put me on the twenty. Personally, I think we should honor people who have done great things regardless of whatever identity group they belong to and not treat it like a college application essay where the winner is whoever overcomes the most obstacles. Otherwise maybe we should put General Tom Thumb on the currency. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/119 "2015-03-25T20:00:07Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Harriet Tubman had been born with both legs, if she had not we probably would not have heard of her. If I had been born back then and had the powers of Superman, I would have flown around the south and personally ended slavery without the Civil War happening, maybe we should put me on the twenty. > Personally, I think we should honor people who have done great things regardless of whatever identity group they belong to and not treat it like a college application essay where the winner is whoever overcomes the most obstacles. Otherwise maybe we should put General Tom Thumb on the currency. If the goal is to encourage people with no legs or of small stature to keep raising the bar, holding up the previous bar raisers seems reasonable. There’s not much to be gained by saying, “Nya nya, you can’t be on the money till you’ve formed a new country with a new system of government and ran it for a few years.” If we demand equal output on the part of the nominees as the current people who are on the money, and further demand that those people are dead, then we won’t be able to put any women on the money for another hundred years. Assuming that people can be encouraged by stories of success, holding off on publishing those encouragements just delays progress. It’s basically a catch-22. We aren’t going to let you succeed until you have a history of success. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776/120 "2015-03-25T20:00:43Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Eleanor Roosevelt had the great fortune of marrying a great man when she was seventeen. As far as I can tell the most she contributed to his election was not divorcing him for his numerous infidelities. FDR is on the dime for helping to win the war and literally save the world from Hitler, that is an accomplishment. Marrying someone who would do that forty years later is just luck. Well, we know one poster on this board who doesn’t believe that “behind every great man is a great woman.” You talk like they never interacted after their honeymoon! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-woman-would-you-like-to-see-on-the-20-bill/715776.md?page=7)