NWHM in the News

"...On September 12, 1992 Jemison and six other astronauts went into space on the space shuttle Endeavor. This voyage made Jemison the first African American woman in space. The team made 127 orbits around the Earth and returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on September 20, 1992." - Mae Jemison’s biography as written for the National Women’s History Museum

“Historic Change: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of the Honorable Patsy Takemoto Mink” commemorates the release of the 2024 Patsy Mink quarter, the twelfth coin in the United States Mint’s American Women Quarters Program. If you’re one of the fortunate few who still has home delivery of The Maui News, and are reading this paper with your morning coffee, you might be able to catch the tail end of the live stream program hosted by the U.S. Mint, the National Women’s History Museum, the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, and Senator Mazie Hirono.

The Secretary of the Treasury selects the honorees following consultation with the Smithsonian Institution’s American Women’s History Initiative, the National Women’s History Museum, and the Congressional Bipartisan Women’s Caucus. The American Women Quarters feature contributions from a variety of fields including civil rights, government, humanities, science, space, and the arts. The women honored are also from ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse backgrounds.

A special quarter celebrating the life and legacy of Patsy Takemoto Mink, a distinguished University of Hawaiʻi alumna, is available for purchase from the U.S. Mint, and began shipping on March 25. An event announcing the release and honoring the former U.S. Congresswoman and Title IX champion was held at the Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

As Women’s History Month 2024 comes to an end, we thought we’d reshare an article we first published last March. All month we’ve been celebrating some of our favorite women in music on our website and social media.

According to an article by Debra Michals for the National Women's History Museum, she championed legislation supporting racial and gender equity. For example, Chisholm was hugely influential in prioritizing the passing of the Equal Rights Amendment. Her gift of language and persuasion helped combat challenges that threatened to stall the amendment.

“When you look at what the U.S. Mint does, we’re experts in making coins, but we’re not experts in women’s history.” Thompson’s team worked with the Smithsonian American Women’s History, the National Women’s History Museum, and the Congressional Bipartisan Women’s Caucus – in addition to opening up the conversation to the public online. “These are going to be the nation’s coins, so hearing public input was vital.”

National Women’s History Museum, The Importance of Women’s History

The faces of 20 diverse women are joining the founding fathers on American currency. Educators see it as a chance to expand how U.S. history is taught.

Some were big names, Herrera said, but people also nominated the women in their own lives. “There was a general sentiment that, ‘My mother has always been an inspiration to me,’ or, ‘My grandmother raised me,’ or, ‘My aunt is an educator and I love watching her change the world through education,’” Herrera said. “Whenever there is an opportunity for women to lift other women up, they take it.”

Whiting has followed in her ancestor's footsteps by chairing the board of the National Women's History Museum in Washington, D.C. There, she tries to educate the public about the women who were significant contributors to American history, and inspire young people to make their own change.