Who Deserves the $10 Bill: Part 3

(In case you missed them, check out Part 1 and Part 2.)

Welcome to Part 3 of our mission to choose the best woman for the $10 bill!

Again, to be considered, each candidate must be:

1. Dead
2. Female
3. American

Candidates will then be judged in the following 4 categories:

1. Popularity Index: name recognition
2. Symbolic Value Index: status as an icon or symbol for a movement or cause
3. Achievement Index: overall contribution to "our inclusive democracy”
4. Irreplaceability Index: unlikeliness that another person could have made that same societal contribution

In each of these categories, candidates will be rated on a scale from 1-10, and the scores from all four categories will then be added together to declare a winner.

Rosa Parks and Susan B. Anthony have already been evaluated. Now it's time to put Scott Walker's choice to the task. (Here's to hoping she fares better in her campaign than Walker did in his).

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Clara Barton

Basic Bio:
Clarissa "Clara" Harlowe Barton (1821-1912) founded the American Red Cross in 1881. Prior to that, she worked as a teacher, patent clerk, and field nurse in the Civil War.






Popularity Index: 6/10
Barton’s name is easily recognized by anyone familiar with American history textbooks, but—as with Anthony—most people probably couldn’t tell you much about her.

Was she a suffragist? An author? Did she make the American flag? 

(That was Betsy Ross, of course). 

Symbolic Value Index: 7/10
Known for her courage and compassion, Barton is the leading icon of volunteerism. The American Red Cross carries on her dedication to public service as it continues to provide relief to those in need. The organization's website states, “Barton’s legacy to the nation—service to humanity—is reflected in the services provided daily by the employees and volunteers of the American Red Cross throughout the nation and in troubled spots around the world.”

Achievement Index: 9/10
Barton served as a teacher for over a decade, established New Jersey’s first free public school, and became the first woman employed by the federal government. During the Civil War, she served soldiers by bringing supplies, writing letters, and praying with them. In 1862, she gained permission to head to the front lines. Known as the “Angel of the Battlefield,” she fearlessly served men injured in the war, writing, “I always tried . . . to succor the wounded until medical aid and supplies could come up—I could run the risk; it made no difference to anyone if I were shot or taken prisoner.”

After the war, she founded the Office of Correspondence with Friends of the Missing Men of the United States Army, for which she helped to locate over 22,000 missing soldiers. She also identified almost 13,000 graves of Union soldiers who had died in Georgia’s Andersonville Prison.

She founded the American branch of the International Red Cross in 1881, serving as the organization’s president until 1905. According to its website, the American Red Cross annually helps 150,000 military families, responds to nearly 70,000 disasters in the U.S., provides more than 40% of America’s blood supply, and offers health and safety training to over nine million Americans. Its 13 million volunteers work in 187 countries.

Irreplaceability Index: 7/10
From a young age, Barton was able to relate to boys and gain their respect with her athleticism, paving the way for her to become the first female employee in the federal government. She enjoyed equal pay, too—at least until the administration of James Buchanan eliminated her position because of opposition to female government workers (re: sexism).

She also learned basic nursing techniques while caring for her brother as a child, which allowed her to provide medical aid during the Civil War.

Barton—who studied writing and languages at the Clinton Liberal Institute of New York—was a brilliant writer and charismatic speaker known to bring audience members to tears. She used her linguistic talents to garner support for her various causes.

Few possessed her combination of charisma, intelligence, medical knowledge, grit, and compassion, making her uniquely fit to challenge gender roles, serve on the front lines, and establish the world’s biggest volunteer organization.

Final score: 29/40

Check out Part 4 tomorrow to see how Abigail Adams fares.

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Who Deserves the $10 Bill: Part 2

(Click here for Part 1.)

Welcome to Part 3 of our quest to choose which woman should be featured on the $10 bill. Since the Republican presidential candidates struggled with this question during the second GOP debate, here's a brief recap of the judging criteria detailed in Part 1:

A. To be considered, each candidate must be:

1. Dead
2. Female
3. American B. Candidates will then be judged in the following 4 categories:

1. Popularity Index: name recognition
2. Symbolic Value Index: status as an icon or symbol for a movement or cause
3. Achievement Index: overall contribution to "our inclusive democracy”
4. Irreplaceability Index: unlikeliness that another person could have made that same societal contribution

In each of these categories, candidates will be rated on a scale from 1-10, and the scores from all four categories will then be added together to declare a winner.

We already graded Rosa Parks; now it's time to rate Rand Paul's choice.

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Susan B. Anthony

Basic Bio:
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) was a prominent suffragist and abolitionist who was arrested for voting in 1872. She co-founded and presided over the National American Woman Suffrage Association, helped create the International Council of Women, and served as the New York Stage agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society.


Popularity Index: 8/10
Most people born and schooled in the United States have heard of Anthony; however, many Americans could not tell you what, exactly, she did, as she is often confused with other prominent white women, such as Clara Barton, Betsy Ross, Lucy Stone, and her good friend Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Most Americans know Anthony, but aren’t entirely sure why.

Symbolic Value Index: 8/10
Anthony is one of two women to have appeared on US currency—Sacagawea is the other—but the commemorative coin was only in production for about a year. (The Treasury originally wanted to put the Statue of Liberty on the coin, a suggestion which—rightfully so—did not go over well with women). Since the US Treasury is seeking to salute the 100th anniversary of female suffrage, putting the movement’s biggest star on the $10 bill would certainly make sense.

Women’s suffrage can hardly be talked about without mentioning Anthony, the movement’s unquestioned pioneer: After all, the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, is also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. But whereas Parks is the unparalleled female icon of the Civil Rights Movement, Anthony shares her icon status with fellow suffragists such as Stanton and Stone.

Achievement Index: 10/10
Anthony was an ardent supporter of both abolition and women’s suffrage, and it’s difficult to overstate her many achievements.

As an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society, she organized meetings and circulated abolitionist pamphlets. She co-founded the Women’s National Loyal League to petition for the 13th Amendment and published her own newspaper, The Revolution, in which she highlighted lynchings and other racist acts. After the Civil War and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment —which abolished slavery—she turned her attention to women’s rights. She traveled the nation speaking and passing out leaflets, and she appeared before every congress from 1869 until her death in 1906—that’s over 35 years—to ask that women gain the right to vote. She served as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, and spearheaded the World’s Congress of Representative Women at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Anthony fought for women’s rights beyond suffrage, too. She campaigned for female educational opportunities, battled for a woman’s right to own property, demanded equal pay for women, and served as the founding president of the Workingwomen’s Central Association. With large thanks to her, the New York State Married Women’s Property Bill allowed married women to own property, make their own money, and take custody of their children.

She also called for an eight-hour workday and co-founded the Women’s New York State Temperance Society.

Anthony said in 1894, “We shall someday be heeded, and when we shall have our amendment to the Constitution of the United States, everybody will think it was always so, just exactly as many young people think that all the privileges, all the freedom, all the enjoyments which woman now possesses always were hers. They have no idea of how every single inch of ground that she stands upon today has been gained by the hard work of some little handful of women of the past.”

Irreplaceability Index: 6/10
As discussed earlier, Anthony was not alone in her efforts, working alongside Stanton for most of her career as an activist. But though other women (and men) joined in her crusades, none had more success than Anthony.

In Century of Struggle: The Woman’s Rights Movement in the United States, Eleanor Flexner wrote, “If Lucretia Mott typified the moral force of the movement, if Lucy Stone was its most gifted orator and Mrs. Stanton its most outstanding philosopher, Susan Anthony was its incomparable organizer, who gave it force and direction for half a century.”

Anthony was born to a Quaker father who encouraged all of his children—sons and daughters alike—to be strong and self-supporting. She was a persuasive writer who published her own newspaper and a fearless fighter who forced others to hear her voice. Others may have taken her place, but her fighter’s mentality could not be easily replicated.

Final score: 32/40


Check Part 3 to see Clara Barton's score.

Who Deserves the $10 Bill: Part 1

Toward the end of the September 16 GOP presidential debate, Republican candidates were asked a simple question:

“What woman would you like to see on the $10 bill?”¹

Referring to the Treasury’s plan to put a female face on non-commemorative U.S. currency, the question was an easy chance for a party headlined by Donald Trump—who has been accused of making sexist remarks— to gain favor with women. After all, women have made up the majority of voters in the past nine presidential elections.

Essentially, moderator Jake Tapper threw the party a 70 mph fastball right down the middle—and the majority of the candidates didn't even offer up a real swing.

Of the eleven candidates asked that question, three chose family members,² two listed non-Americans,³ and one—Carly Fiorina—refused to answer. Not exactly a great showing from a party already struggling with female voters.⁴

The American women actually chosen? Rosa Parks (three times), Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, and Abigail Adams. Much has been said about the GOP’s failure to name more than four deserving American women, but those four are at least reasonable options.

Ted Cruz also deserves credit for arguing that instead of joining first Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill, the chosen woman should land on the $20 bill as the replacement for Andrew Jackson, who dismantled the United States Bank and enforced the Indian Removal Act (colloquially known as The Trail of Tears).

Still, though, the question remains: Which woman should be placed on the $10 bill?

To find out, we must first look at the criteria established for the preexisting faces gracing US money: According to the Department of the Treasury, “the portraits on our currency notes are of deceased persons whose places in history the American people know well.”

So, to appear on US currency, one must be:

1. Dead
2. Well-known to Americans

By those standards, Al Capone and Charles Manson could have their mugshots adorning our money, and even Michael Jackson fits the bill (pun intended).

Since we clearly need to be a bit more specific, the following qualifications must be met in order for a candidate to be considered as our next monetary star:

1. Dead
2. Woman
3. American

It’s easy to see if those qualifications are met—cryonics, gender assignment, and Donald Trump’s denial notwithstanding. But the Treasury also announced they are looking for a woman “who was a champion for our inclusive democracy,” so candidates will be judged in the following four categories:

1. Popularity Index: name recognition
2. Symbolic Value Index: status as an icon or symbol for a movement or cause
3. Achievement Index: overall contribution to "our inclusive democracy”
4. Irreplaceability Index: unlikeliness that another person could have made that same societal contribution

In each of these categories, candidates will be rated on a scale from 1-10, and the scores from all four categories will then be added together to declare a winner.

A celebrity like Oprah would have a popularity index of 10, whereas Douglas J. Pattison would receive a score of 1. Who is Pattison? He’s the CFO of Oprah’s company, Harpo Productions, but I didn’t know that until I Googled “Who runs Oprah’s company?” Point proven.

Jackie Robinson would have a symbolic value index of 10 because he is the leading icon of the movement to integrate professional sports. William Edward White would have a symbolic value index of 1—despite actually being the first black man to play major league baseball—because he is not widely recognized as a symbol of the movement.

Apple cofounder Steve Jobs would have an achievement index of 10, while Kim Kardashian would have a score closer to negative 13 because her biggest contributions to society have been the “duckface" and a baby whose name belongs on a compass.

Finally, Martin Luther King, Jr. would have an irreplaceability index of 10 because it is highly unlikely that someone else could have come along with the same set of traits required to successfully lead the Civil Rights Movement.⁵ However, my great-uncle—who was honored for his bravery in World War II—would score low in irreplaceability because there were, presumably, thousands of others who also would have jumped on that bomb if given the chance. Both of these men were heroic, but there is a much lower chance that another individual could have taken Dr. King’s place than that of my great-uncle. Dr. King, therefore, is more irreplaceable.

It’s important to note that “irreplaceability” is not synonymous with “significance.”

(In her hit song “Irreplaceable,” Beyonce sings, “I can have another you by tomorrow, so don't you ever for a second get to thinking [that] you're irreplaceable.” Though I’m not saying an award-winning soldier is an everyday commodity, this song captures the basic idea of him being more easily replaced than a once-in-a-generation leader like Dr. King.)

Okay, without further ado, let's begin with the first of the four women listed by the GOP candidates:

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Rosa Parks

Basic Bio:
Rosa Parks (1913-2005) was an African-American woman whose refusal to give up her seat ignited the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and brought her prominence as a civil rights activist.

Popularity Index: 10/10
Parks is the only woman on this list who can realistically be labeled a household name. After her arrest, she became one of the most recognizable figures of the 20th century.


Symbolic Value Index: 10/10
Thanks to her leading role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Parks has become a symbol of peaceful protests and, after Dr. King, she is perhaps the most iconic figure of the Civil Rights Movement. She represents not only the struggle of black women in America, but also their significant role in ending the racist idea of “separate but equal.”

In 1999, the U.S. Congress honored Parks as the “first lady of civil rights” and the “mother of the freedom movement.”

No woman on this list possesses more symbolic value than Parks.

Achievement Index: 6/10
In a 2012 CNN article, historian Danielle McGuire argues that “it’s time to free Rosa Parks from the bus.” McGuire explains that before Parks’ arrest, the civil rights icon served as secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. In that role, she investigated the gang rape of a black woman named Recy Taylor and organized a committee in the victim’s honor, which the Chicago Defender called “the strongest campaign for equal justice to be seen in a decade.”

After her arrest, Parks continued to fight for the rights of the black community: She supported the Selma march, was active in the struggle to end housing segregation, co-founded the Rosa L. Park Scholarship Foundation and the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

But this is where it gets tricky: We’ve just established that Parks is a) the most well-known figure on this list, and b) a leading member of the Civil Rights Movement. But it’s difficult to siphon out her achievements from those of the movement in general; essentially, despite her long list of honors and awards, it’s nearly impossible to determine what percent of the movement’s success actually belongs to her.

Irreplaceability Index: 4/10
On the night of Parks’ arrest, the Women’s Political Council circulated a letter throughout the local black community, writing that “the next time it may be you, or your daughter, or your mother.”

The letter continued, “We are, therefore, asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial.” This was the start of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, of which Parks was more an instrument than an organizer.

Parks was not the only, or even the first, woman to boldly refuse to give up her seat; there were, unfortunately, many prior cases of black women (such as Mary Louise Smith) being arrested and/or beaten for simply remaining seated. In their book This Day in Civil Rights History, authors Randall Williams and Ben Beard write that “. . . African American riders were often involved in incidents on the buses. For various reasons, none before Parks became the rallying point for the mass boycott of buses.”⁶

Among those “various reasons” is the fact that the NAACP saw Parks as the ideal candidate⁷ on which to center the movement: She was a married, employed, well-educated,⁸ and respected member of the organization. Dr. King described her as "one of the finest citizens of Montgomery—not one of the finest Negro citizens—but one of the finest citizens of Montgomery.”

Parks showed extreme discipline, resilience, and courage, but so had many other black women before and after.Although she was seen as the best choice, it is difficult to imagine that—had she not remained seated that day—another woman would not have stepped in to take her place.


Final score: 30/40

Check Part 2 and Part 3 to check out the grades for Susan B. Anthony and Clara Barton, respectively.

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1 To hear the candidates’ full answers, check out the GOP debate transcript.^↩
2 Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, and Donald Trump chose their wife, mother, and daughter, respectively, in apparent efforts to win over the GOP faction that’s hoping for the Nicholas Sparks version of a president. (Trump also chose Rosa Parks, since she and Ivanka Trump are apparently of similar cultural significance.)^↩
3 Jeb Bush chose former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, while John Kasich chose Mother Theresa, who was born in Albania.^↩
4 However, Fiorina’s non-answer was the perfect response: “I think, honestly, it's a gesture,” she said. “I don't think it helps to change our history. What I would think is that we ought to recognize that women are not a special interest group. Women are the majority of this nation.”^↩
5 Speaking of Dr. King: As one of the most influential people in U.S. history, why is he not already depicted on our currency? It’s pretty difficult to think of a more deserving candidate.^↩
6 Click here to check out more of This Day in Civil Rights History.^↩
7 According to the New York Times,“ They had begun to build a case around a 15-year-old girl's arrest for refusing to give up her seat, and Mrs. Parks had been among those raising money for the girl's defense. But when they learned that the girl was pregnant, they decided that she was an unsuitable symbol for their cause.”^↩
8 Parks earned her high school diploma at a time when 93% of African-Americans hadn’t.^↩