ERIC Number: EJ1226210
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1056-0300
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Which Woman Should Appear on U.S. Currency?
Manfra, Meghan McGlinn; Saylor, Elizabeth E.
Social Studies and the Young Learner, v29 n1 p27-32 Sep-Oct 2016
Currency is a powerful cultural artifact; the imagery portrayed on bills and coins depict a nation's values and ideals. The process of selecting an American woman to appear on a U.S. Treasury bill began when a nine-year-old girl wrote to President Obama about her concern that no women were depicted on U.S. paper bills. The Treasury announcement to identify a new figure on the ten dollar bill led to considerable public feedback. In fact, the Treasury website now includes a database listing the 274 of American women recommended by the public (modernmoney. treasury.gov/new-notes/your-recommendations). Based in part on the tremendous feedback, the Treasury now says it plans to reconsider the redesign of the 20, 10, and 5 dollar bills. In the end, the decision was made to move Andrew Jackson to the back of the $20 bill and place Harriet Tubman on the front. These recent events provides elementary school teachers and students the opportunity to explore an inquiry: If the United States were to create electronic currency, which American woman should be featured on the e-dollar? In order to answer this question, students must explore both primary and secondary sources, while also confronting questions about the limits of historical understanding and the ways in which historians attribute historical significance to people from the past. By using the C3 Framework to guide student inquiry about this issue, teachers can scaffold students through the inquiry arc towards making an evidence-based argument about who could be featured on such currency.
Descriptors: History Instruction, Current Events, United States History, Elementary School Students, Information Sources, Inquiry, Active Learning, Monetary Systems, Social Studies, Females, Student Research
National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street #500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A