Resolution 150300

..Title Urging President Barack Obama to issue an Executive Order to the United States Treasury to put a woman on the twenty dollar bill by 2020, marking the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. ..Body WHEREAS, Women on 20s, an organization founded by Barbara Ortiz Howard is working to see that women have representation on paper currency; and WHEREAS, A woman has never been featured on a piece of U.S. paper currency; and WHEREAS, The United States Treasury has printed a total of 12 different paper bills featuring George Washington ($1), Thomas Jefferson ($2), Abraham Lincoln ($5), Alexander Hamilton ($10), Andrew Jackson ($20), Ulysses S. Grant ($50), Ben Franklin ($100), William McKinley ($500), Grover Cleveland ($1000), James Madison ($5000), Salmon Chase ($10000), Woodrow Wilson ($100,000); and WHEREAS, Women have only appeared on lower circulated, less popular coins including Susan B. Anthony, whose one dollar coin was minted 800 million times before being taken out of circulation, and the Susan B. Anthony replacement, the Sacagawea one dollar coin which by 2012 saw only 3 million in circulation; and WHEREAS, Women on 20s, along with a group of prominent women historians selected 100 women from American history, which were then narrowed down to four through a series of voting processes; and WHEREAS, Once a candidate is selected, Women on 20s will petition President Obama to replace Andrew Jackson on the 20 dollar bill, an act that is possible through executive action; and WHEREAS, Women on 20s aims to phase in the new 20 dollar bills by 2020, marking the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote; and WHEREAS, The list of candidates selected by Women on 20s are listed below; and WHEREAS, Rosa Parks, recognized by Congress as the "First Lady of Civil Rights," she challenged racial segregation by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. Her arrest, and the ensuing Montgomery Bus Boycott became symbols in the struggle for racial equality and Civil Rights in the United States; and WHEREAS, Harriet Tubman, born a slave, she fled North to freedom, later making 19 trips back to the South as an Underground Railroad conductor, leading some 300 slaves to freedom. A nurse during the Civil War, she served the Union army as a scout and spy. She was active in the women's suffrage movement after the war; and WHEREAS, Eleanor Roosevelt, acknowledged for redefining the role of First Lady, used her newspaper column, radio and speeches to champion civil and women's rights, often in opposition to her husband FDR's policies. As a UN delegate and "First Lady of the World," she drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and WHEREAS, Because of strong public sentiment that people should have the choice of a Native American to replace Andrew Jackson, Wilma Mankiller, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation and first elected female Chief of a Native nation in modern times also appears on the final ballot; and WHEREAS, All citizens are encouraged to select their favorite candidate from the final list of four and vote on the Women on 20s website, http://www.womenon20s.org; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council does hereby urge President Barack Obama to issue an Executive Order to the United States Treasury to put a woman on the twenty dollar bill by 2020, marking the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. ..End