The front of the new $20 will feature the portrait of Harriet Tubman, whose life was dedicated to fighting for liberty, according to the U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. The reverse of the new $20 will display The White House and an image of President Andrew Jackson.
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery. After she escaped, she became a conductor on the Underground Railroad, helping slaves escape to freedom.
During the Civil War, she was active in the Union cause, serving as a nurse, a cook, and a scout gathering intelligence.
Looking back on her life, Harriet Tubman said, “I would fight for liberty so long as my strength lasted.” After the war, she supported the cause of women’s suffrage and was active in suffragist organizations. She died in 1913 and was buried with military honors.
The portrait of Harriet Tubman being used is from a photograph taken around 1887 in Boston.
The Tubman $20 is one of a number of changes to U.S. currency announced by the treastury department.
The others include a new $10, which will celebrate the history of the women’s suffrage movement, and feature images of Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul, alongside the Treasury building. The front of the new $10 will retain the portrait of Alexander Hamilton.
A new $5 will honor historic events that occurred at the Lincoln Memorial in service of our democracy, and will feature Martin Luther King Jr., Marian Anderson, and Eleanor Roosevelt. The front of the new $5 will retain the portrait of President Lincoln.
