Civil Rights Advocate Pauli Murray to Appear on 2024 U.S. Quarter

Another Black woman, one of the most important social justice advocates of the 20th century, will appear on a U.S. quarter.

Black woman civil rights advocate Pauli Murray, will be honored as part of the American Women Quarters Program; the 2024 U.S. quarters are being prepared to circulate.

The United States Mint made the announcement that includes Murray in the designs, which are set to be released in mid-2023.

According to The News & Observer, the Mint described the program as “the ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse group of individuals honored through this program reflects a wide range of accomplishments and fields, including suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and the arts.”

Murray is being honored for her contributions as a poet, writer, lawyer, and activist who fought against racial and sex discrimination. In 1977, Murray made history becoming the first Black woman in the U.S. to become an Episcopal priest. The activist co-founded the National Organization for Women alongside activists such as Betty Friedan.

“All of the women being honored have lived remarkable and multi-faceted lives, and have made a significant impact on our nation in their own unique way,” United States Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson said.

Murray joins a list of many notable women honorees that includes legendary “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz; Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color to hold a seat in Congress; Civil War surgeon Dr. Mary Edwards Walker; and writer, composer, educator, and politician Zitkala-Ša, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, who fought for Native Americans’ right to American citizenship and other civil rights.

As previously reported by BLACK ENTERPRISE, the first Native American woman pilot Bessie Coleman was honored in the previous class of women whose quarters were set to circulate this year.

The first class of honorees for the American Women Quarters Program circulated in 2022. The coins will continue to go around throughout 2025.