Media advisory: KU professors can comment on Harriet Tubman's selection for $20 bill
LAWRENCE — University of Kansas experts on U.S. social and cultural history, including women's and African-American civil rights, are available to comment on the significance of Harriet Tubman being added to the $20 bill.
According to national news reports, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is expected to announce the selection of Tubman, the African-American abolitionist and humanitarian known for her contribution to freeing slaves through the Underground Railroad, to replace President Andrew Jackson on the front of the bill.
Kim Warren, associate professor of history and women, gender and sexuality studies, can discuss the historical significance of Tubman's selection. Warren's broad research interests include race and gender relations, civil rights, reform movements and the history of gender and race in African-American and Native American education.
She is author of the book "The Quest of Citizenship: African American and Native American Education in Kansas, 1880-1935." Her second book-length project is an investigation of Mary McLeod Bethune's political strategies to advance movements of women and African-Americans in the Franklin Roosevelt administration.
"The U.S. is long overdue on including women on currency. There are so many individuals who ought to be considered: women who helped with negotiations between indigenous and European groups during colonial times; women who demanded labor reform that brought about eight-hour workday and minimum wage laws; women who revolutionized the entire system of democracy by demanding the right to vote in national elections; women who made scientific discoveries; and so many more," Warren said. "Harriet Tubman would be an excellent option. Her placement on the front of a widely used bill of currency would be an important acknowledgment of the many women who risked their lives in the fight for the abolition of institutions that allowed for human trafficking and the enslavement of people in this country."
Ann Schofield, professor and interim chair of the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and by courtesy history, can discuss the social and cultural significance of Tubman being the first woman historical figure permanently added to U.S. currency. Her research is primarily focused on historical analysis of gender and class, particularly U.S. working-class women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as American culture and respectability.
To arrange an interview with Warren or Schofield, contact George Diepenbrock at 785-864-8853 or gdiepenbrock@ku.edu.