Members of the City Council’s Women’s Caucus on Wednesday held a press conference on the City Hall steps to announce a resolution calling for the federal government to have a woman be the new face of the $20 bill. The councilmembers were joined by leaders of the fast-growing #WomenOn20s movement, as well as the leadership of the National Organization for Women – New York City (NOW-NYC). #WomenOn20s announced the results of their nationwide online vote to consider potential new faces of the $20 bill. More than 600,000 people voted over 10 weeks, ultimately choosing legendary abolitionist Harriet Tubman, above, as the winner. The movement aims to have President Obama take Jackson, the nation’s seventh president, off the greenback, partly because “Old Hickory” distrusted the banking system and paper money, plus was a slave owner (like George Washington, whose face is on the dollar bill, and Thomas Jefferson, whose profile adorns the nickel) and passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
