Earned It

The faces to be added to U.S. currency before 2020 should be familiar to our community.

They include Lucretia Mott, a founder of Swarthmore College, the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, the American Anti-Slavery Society, and the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y. Her portrait, papers, and memorabilia are in Friends Historical Library (FHL), and her collected sermons and speeches will be published next year. 

Another is Alice Paul, Class of 1905, a legendary women’s rights activist and pioneer in furthering social justice through nonviolent resistance. In April, President Barack Obama designated the building that, since 1929, has housed the National Woman’s Party—founded by Paul—as the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument.

Harriet Tubman had several Quaker associations, including longtime friend Emily Howland, whose papers are at FHL. The library
also has significant letters from Susan B. Anthony, a Quaker. At one point, Elizabeth Cady Stanton claimed membership in the New York Yearly Meeting of Congregational Friends, and many Friends and Quaker organizations worked with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Finally, Sojourner Truth once said she would have become a Quaker, except that, at the time, Quakers did not sing.

Happily, a reminder of these world-changers’ shared song of equality will soon only be as far away as your wallet.