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Women 's Suffrage By Susan B. Anthony Silver Dollar

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It’s sobering to realize that it’s only been 95 years since the first woman legally cast her ballot in an American presidential election. March is Women’s History Month and before it’s over for 2015, I’d like to propose that we launch an effort to memorialize the immense contributions of the American women’s suffrage leaders by adding their likeness to at least one of our pieces of currency.

The Susan B. Anthony silver dollar had a short but awkward run from 1979-1981 and again in 1999 before production halted. In recent months, there have been discussions about replacing President Jackson on the $20 bill with someone else. Why not the three leading women who devoted their lives to the rights of women voters and changed the course of American history without ever casting a legal ballot of their own?

In the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol stands a striking, white sculpture of three incredible women. It is the first sculpture in the Capitol sculpted by a woman (Adelaide Johnson), of women (Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott) and for women. The sculpture gives the appearance of being unfinished or incomplete as a way of illustrating that the contributions of women to American government are still taking place and will never be finished. Today, women have a voice in our government because of the sacrifices and courageous efforts of those first “Women’s Suffrage” crusaders. They challenged convention, changed history and lived by the conviction of Susan B.

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