Photo courtesy of the National Park Service
As we wait for Harriet Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, we can celebrate the launch of a new coin honoring the Anacostia home of Frederick Douglass.
Officials from the National Park Service and United States Mint gathered at the historic site this morning to announce that an image of the African American abolitionist and his home are now engraved on a quarter.
The release of the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site quarter is part of the U.S. Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters Program that launched in 2010 to honor 56 national parks and sites with their own coins.
The tails side of quarter depicts the civil rights advocate seated at a desk while the home—where he lived from 1877 until his death in 1895—is pictured in the background.
“Frederick Douglass fought for justice and equality for all people,” said Mike Reynolds, acting director of NPS, in a release. “His brilliant words continue to shape the ways that we think about race, democracy, and the meaning of freedom, so it is altogether fitting that we are honoring his legacy.”
Officials have rolled out five new special-edition quarters each year, including ones featuring the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Maryland and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The heads side of each quarter features a modification of the same portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan that has appeared on the coin since its first release in 1932.
Thomas Hipschen designed the Douglass coin and Phebe Hemphill sculpted it. The U.S. Mint has released a video of the production process.