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When an advisory committee to the U.S. Mint proposed that Benjamin Banneker grace the District's commemorative quarter set to be released next year, not many D.C. residents were too happy with the decision. But thanks to a timely intervention by D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, voting was opened to residents, leaving them with the choice of Banneker, Duke Ellington, or Frederick Douglass.
The city announced today that Ellington squeaked out a narrow victory in the voting, defeating Douglass and Banneker with 36 percent of the 6,089 votes cast. Douglass garnered 33 percent; Banneker 31 percent. You can download the letter Mayor Adrian Fenty sent to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson over here, which officially recommends he chooses the Ellington design. The ultimate decision is up to Paulson, however, so let's hope he's more a jazz fan than an astronomer.
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That image is not a great one of Duke Ted Kennedy Ellington. I'd rather see him actually playing the piano. Or anywhere near the age he was when he actually lived in DC.
Typical self-loathing DC, we pick as a city icon someone who was mainly known for the work and the life they lived in NYC. Apprently we love people who were raised here, got thier start, and then said "hell I gotta get outa here."
WE WIN! WOOHOOO
Are we sure Paulson won't reject us again? Wasn't one of the design guidelines "no faces"? Or am I hallucinating?
None of the other state quarters honor a single person to such great extent. Only Illinois comes at all close, and even then there are some key differences.
I wouldn't be surprised if Treasury just comes up with its own design, since we seem intent on breaking the rules.
That pic makes it look like Duke Ellington is a zombie rising from the grave.
Caesar Rodney is on one of the state quarters.
Helen Keller is also on a state quarter.
I still wish Marvin Gaye had been up for the honor, but oh well.
BeyondDC:
What you're thinking of is that the Treasury discouraged having a person, but didn't prohibit it. They did, however, outright disallow any head or bust shots (I guess because it would throw off the whole "heads-tails" thing). So states are able to have specific people, but they have to be full-body images. Hence Caesar Rodney on the horse, Hellen Keller in the chair, and Zombie Duke Ellington slowly righting himself on his search for brainz.
The zombie Duke picture was no worse than the one for Douglas that looked like he was just caught looking at pr0n at his desk.
well, maybe he was the first zombie dude to do the zombie march around the washington monument. that's kind of DC-ish.
and i bet, if you give me five minutes, we can have that fact validated by the DC wikipedia page.
Do the mash!
Do the Monster Mash!
The Monster Mash!
It's a graveyard smash!
Hmm. I think Zombie Duke Ellington might be at the Hotel Continental in this shot.
@Moose: Both designs show Ellington and Douglass covering their crotch for some unknown reason. Very sketchy.
Should have been the other Duke .. Duke Zeibert. He's a more qualifying zombie.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), the city's congressional delegate, said that Ellington had been her top choice, because he represented the city more than the other candidates.
"He took music lessons here; he grew up here; his life was all D.C.," she said.
All DC except for how he achieved fame in NYC and stayed there his whole life.
I thought the Frederick Douglass design was the best looking one. But I voted for Coach Janky Spanky.