09/02/2022
Wow!
EDITH KANAKA'OLE IS HONORED BY HER IMAGE ON QUARTERS TO BE RELEASED BY THE U.S. MINT. She is one of five prominent women in American history to be depicted on quarters in 2023. The designs were unveiled on Monday. The others are Bessie Coleman, Jovita Idar, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Maria Tallchief.
Sen. Mazie Hirono urged the inclusion of Kanaka'ole' image through the Mint’s American Women Quarters Program.
Hirono said, “Edith Kanaka`ole was a prominent leader in the revitalization of Hawaiian language and culture—notably as a renowned kumu hula. She helped preserve and spread Hawaiian language, traditions, and history, contributing so much to the Native Hawaiian community, Hawai'i, and our nation. It is fitting that she be honored with this special recognition. I’m pleased to see the design for her commemorative quarter today, and I look forward to seeing these quarters put into circulation, so that people in every corner of our country can learn more about Edith Kanaka`ole and her remarkable life.”
Hawaiian wording on the coin says, "E hō mai Ka 'ike," which means, "Grant us Knowledge."
Authorized by the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, the American Women Quarters Program features coins with designs emblematic of the accomplishments and contributions of prominent American women.
Contributions come from a wide spectrum of fields including, but not limited to, suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and the arts. The women honored come from ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse backgrounds. As required by the law, no living person will be featured in the coin designs, and thus all the women honored must be deceased. The Mint is issuing five coins with different reverse designs annually over the four-year period from 2022 through 2025.
