Photo – U.S. Mint

Maya Angelou Quarter

U.S. Mint American Women Quarters

Maya Angelou Quarter – Yes, quarters from U.S. Mint American Women series are here! The long awaited quarter series has started with Dr. Maya Angelou.  The image of Dr. Angelou captures her spirit with her arms reaching toward a sunrise spanning the sky.  Her love of dance and writing clearly comes through.

The obverse side of the quarter featured on the American Women series

The U.S. Mint has also change the obverse side of the quarter for the American Women series, featuring a portrait of George Washington facing right. You’ll notice that quarters usually have Washington facing left.  This change is in honor of Laura Gardin Fraser who composed and sculpted the design in 1932 to mark Washington’s 200th birthday. What an honor to feature Laura Gardin Fraser’s design on the American Women  series.

Laura Gardin Fraser was one of the most prolific female sculptors of the early 1900’s and became the first woman to design a U.S. coin when she designed the Alabama Centennial Half Dollar  in 1921.  Her George Washington design was used on a 1999 gold commemorative coin marking the 200th anniversary of Pres. Washington’s death.

It is fitting that her Washington design would be on the obverse side of the American Women’s  series of quarters, her name along with the list of distinguished women who will grace the reverse side of the quarter over the five year period of the series, puts her in her rightful place in history.

The left-facing Pres. Washington design we see on quarters in circulation today, was chosen by The Treasury Secretary Mellon.

Left facing design of Pres. Washington by John Flanagan is featured on quarters in circulation. 

Dr. Maya Angelou starts the series with much excitement and recognition of her place in history as the first black woman with her own coin.

How much do you know about the phenomenal woman – Maya Angelou? In this episode of Quarter Miles Travel, I tell her story.

Dr. Angelou was also featured on a U.S. Postal stamp.

Maya Angelou delivers her poem “On The Pulse of Morning”, at Pres. Bill Clinton’s Inauguration,  January 20, 1993 in Washington, DC.

Here’s an article and  video of Oprah’s joy holding the quarters of her dear friend and mentor. Check out the article, but make sure and scroll down to the video.  Pride and joy!

Transcription:

A phenomenal woman….

We define her by her character, her demeanor, the way she carries herself even when she thinks no one is watching. 

It’s an individual grace, her inner beauty that shines through to her outer beauty.  

Maya Angelou, a phenomenal woman in all definitions of the words….. she exuded phenomenal and it’s her story I share on this podcast. 

There are words and there are actions. Maya Angelou was a women of both. Her elegant words inspired us and her actions changed lives and push a movement forward.  

On the first American Women’s Series of the U.S. Mint Commemorative quarters is Dr. Maya Angelou. She is on the reverse side or tails side of the quarter.  With her arm reaching up to the rising sun behind her and there is a bird in flight inspired by her poetry and symbolic of the way she lived.   

This is the image design on the first of this series of quarters, starting with a phenomenal woman who has inspired the world.  

A poet, author, motivational speaker, Civil Rights activist, songwriter, dance, singer, playwright, stage & producer, director, historian and mentor to many.

How much do you know about this phenomenal woman who in her 86 years of life accomplished so many extraordinary things.  

Dr. Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. Her parents divorced when she was three, and she and her brother Bailey went to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas.    where she speaks of being terribly hurt, yet vastly loved. 

When she was not yet eight years old, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend and told of it, after which he was murdered; the traumatic event, left her feeling responsible for speaking the truth about what happened to her. Frightened by the power of her own words, Angelou chose not to speak for the next five years only to her brother Bailey. She once said she felt – “If I talked to anyone else, that person may die too!”

During the time she was mute, she read every book at the Black school library and every book she could get her hands on from the white school library. From this expiration of literature, she developed a love for poetry and memorized  the works of greats like Shakespear, Edgar Allen Poe and Langston Hughes.  

When she started talking – she would have a lot to say. And You can see how this would inspire her love of writing, poetry and sharing stories of her life and <span class="Apple-conver