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Harriet Tubman Makes the $20 Bill

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Harriet Tubman would never have imagined it.

But the picture of the abolitionist is set to grace the $20 dollar bill.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew made the announcement yesterday for one of the most circulated denominations in the US.

Born in Dorchester County she escaped slavery in 1849 only to return a year later to rescue her niece who was about to be sold in Cambridge.

Tubman’s rescues as part of the Underground Railroad that led slaves to freedom became legendary.

Harriet’s great, great niece Valeie Ross Manokey told WBOC that she felt like the proudest black woman in America.

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women on 20's
Proposed $20 Bill with Tubman Image

She added it was about time.

Tubman’s image will not appear on the bill for another four years.

Andrew Jackson

She will replace the image of President Andrew Jackson who has been known as the founder of modern democracy in the country but was also a slave holder and strongly opposed abolition.  

He was also responsible for the deaths of thousands of Native Americans in the Trail of Tears.

But, some recognition for the former president is expected to appear on the back of the bill.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.