Metro Detroiters debate women on $10 currency

We've come a long way baby!

The U.S. Treasury department's Wednesday announcement that a woman will be featured on $10 bills to be rolled out by 2020, sparked spirited water-cooler and social media discussion. Women haven't been the face of U.S. paper money in more than 100 years.

The Treasury Department is inviting the public to send suggestions via the new website,https://thenew10.treasury.gov/share-your-ideas, or on Twitter using the hashtag #TheNewTen.

Suggestions from metro Detroiters included civil rights icon Rosa Parks, former first lady and activist Eleanor Roosevelt, Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low, abolitionist Harriet Tubman and Oprah Winfrey.

Terry Barclay, president and CEO of Inforum, the leading professional networking group for women in Michigan, said placing a woman on a bill is a fabulous idea.

"Women are half the workforce earning those bills so it's long overdue," Barclay said.

Her vote went to Roosevelt, who had been a contender in the nationwide campaign to put a woman on the $20.

"She's an incredible role model," Barclay said. "She single-handedly brought gender integration to the White House Press Corp by announcing she wouldn't answer any more questions until a woman was in the White House press pool."

Skillman Foundation president Tonya Allen also chose Roosevelt:

"She is a keen example of how a woman leveraged her positional clout into political influence and societal change," Allen said in an e-mail.

"She modeled for the nation how women lead differently through her efforts to instill more social responsibility into our democracy, to ingrain the values of the women suffragist movement into the national narrative and to promote racial equality by leading in conjunction with women of color and raising their profiles to prominence."

Wayne State University Law School Dean Jocelyn Benson suggested Rosa Parks.

"I think Rosa Parks is the obvious choice because she reflects who we are and who we aspire to be," Benson said. "She is — for men and women — someone we should hold up to know about and learn about and be inspired by."

Benson said the Treasury Department's decision is especially important for inspiring young women to be all they can become.

"You can't be what you can't see," she said, adding that it's important that women see examples of what's possible.

Elaine Steele, longtime friend and partner of civil rights icon Rosa Parks agreed with Benson's choice of Parks.

"I think people throughout the world respect her and recognize her work and they know who she is and those of the Christian faith, know whose she is," Steele said.

Janice Cosby, cochair of the Go Red for Women campaign suggested Harriet Tubman, who was the top choice of people who voted in the recent campaign to put a woman on the $20 bill.

"Harriet Tubman was a true leader," said Cosby, chief marketing officer for St. John Providence Hospital. "She was a slave who risked her life to save others."

Girl Scouts of Southeast Michigan CEO Denise Dalrymple suggested Girl Scouts of America founder Juliette Gordon Low because Low always made sure the Girl Scouts included girls of different races and backgrounds.

"Martin Luther King described the Girl Scouts as a face for good because it was always inclusive," Dalrymple said.

But 7-year-old Kylie Welch, one of this year's top Girl Scout cookie sellers in metro Detroit, had a different idea.

Oprah Winfrey would be her top choice.

"She helps lots of people. She works really hard and she is smart," said Welch, a second-grader at Bates Academy in Detroit.

The announcement follows an online campaign to put a woman's face on the $20 bill. The Treasury Department said the $10s are next in line for a redesign.

"I think this is a great first step,'' said Barbara Ortiz Howard, the cofounder of the national effort to put a woman on the $20 bill.

U.S. Treasury Department Secretary Jacob Lew, who would make the final decision, said on the department's website that in addition to following comments to the department on social media, discussions will be held at town halls and meetings this summer.

The website also states that the the current face on the $10, Alexander Hamilton, isn't disappearing entirely.

"There are many options for continuing to honor Hamilton," the website states. " While one option is producing two bills, we are exploring a variety of possibilities. However, security requirements are the driving consideration behind any new design."

Contact Cassandra Spratling: 313-223-4580 or cspratling@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @cassprat.