Mass. Girl Helps Campaign To Put Woman On $20 Bill
BOSTON (CBS) – "A woman's place is on the money" is the slogan for the organization Women On 20s. And a little girl from the Boston area who wrote a letter to the President asking why there are no women on U.S. bills is now working with them.
She's also going to the White House for the yearly Easter Egg roll, and she'll arrive with a message. "I would want to tell him, please help make this happen," says 9-year-old Sofia.
Look in your wallet. George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, Where are the woman? "It just feels unfair because we should have the same opportunities as men," she says.
Sofia, a fourth grader, wrote to President Obama questioning the invisibility of women on U.S. currency, and gave him a few suggestions. "Ann Hutchinson, Rosa Parks, Abigail Adams, Helen Keller," she says.
And to her great surprise, the President wrote back, calling Sofia's proposal "a good idea" and describing Sofia as "pretty impressive."
"I thought, like, oh my gosh this is super awesome," she says. Then she got an invitation to the White House for Monday's Easter Egg celebration. "I was super excited," Sofia says.
You're probably thinking, how about the Susan B. Anthony dollar and the Sacagawea gold coin. Well, when's the last time you used those coins to pay for anything? So an organization called "Women on 20s" is pushing to drop Andrew Jackson, and put a woman on $20 bills.
Sofia is junior ambassador for the cause. And she's not giving up. "I sort of thought, I may not be able to do this, but it's worth a try," she says.
If the cause succeeds it actually won't be the first time a woman has appeared on a bill. Martha Washington was on a $1 bank note in the late 1800s.
On its website, Women On 20s has a ballot for supporters to vote for which woman they believe is most worthy of being added to the bill. The website hopes to gain enough traction to convince Obama to follow through with Sofia's idea.
