Making Women Visible: Smith Hosts Visit From U.S. Treasurer for a New Look for $10 Bill

When Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios wanted ideas about which woman to feature on our nation’s currency, she came to Smith.

Rios—who was sworn in as the nation’s 43rd Treasurer in 2009—was on campus earlier this week to talk with a group of students, faculty and staff about which woman should appear on the new $10 bill. The event was part of a broader listening tour that has incorporated town hall discussions, open houses and college visits. Smith is the only women’s college that Rios has visited.

President Kathleen McCartney, who hosted the Smith event, said that although the Treasurer was unable to be here when classes were in session, she was pleased that Smith could host such an important conversation. “There are so many extraordinary women,” McCartney noted. “It’s important that people see this discussion as not about choosing a token, but about starting a movement.”

The new $10 bill will be unveiled in 2020, the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The initiative has already sparked a spirited national conversation about which woman should be the first to be featured on U.S. paper currency in more than a century. (Martha Washington was on one side of the $1 Silver Certificate banknote in 1886 and 1891; her husband was on the other.)

In her talk at Smith, Rios stressed that the conversation is still open. “There are no finalists,” she said, emphatically. Still, others acknowledged that some familiar names have come up more than once.

The project to feature a woman on the $10 bill has been a central part of Rios’ six-year tenure as Treasurer.

The Smith students, faculty and staff who met with Rios met had other suggestions, too.

Sally Ride. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Emily Dickinson and Jacqueline Kennedy. These are some of the names that were invoked. Rachel Carson was mentioned, as was Gertrude B. Elion. (Did you have to look that one up? If she were on the $10 bill, everyone would know that she shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine.) The group also talked about suffragist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells. McCartney suggested Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to lead a Native American tribe.

The conversation quickly broadened. What type of women might we want to feature on the bill? (Would she have to be a politician—or might we consider artists and scientists instead?) What kind of statement do we make with our choice? (Several of the women discussed are women who’ve been held back by capitalism; what would it mean to honor one of them on a bill that serves as a symbol of their oppression?)

There was widespread agreement that choosing a single woman to represent all women throughout history was a frustrating and futile task.

“What are the chances that there might be more than one?” asked psychology professor Lauren Duncan.

Rios said she understood the dilemma. “I don’t consider this a one-and-done,” she said.

The project to feature a woman on the $10 bill has been a central part of Rios’ six-year tenure as Treasurer. “It’s why I took this job, and it’s why I’ve stayed with it,” she said.

The new $10 is the first bill in a new generation of currency that will be designed to celebrate democracy. Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew will announce who will be profiled before the end of this year.

Rios’ role in this process is key. As Treasurer of the United States, she serves as senior adviser to Lew; she also oversees the U.S. Mint, Fort Knox, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which historically has provided the secretary of the treasury with advice on themes, symbols and concepts to use on currency.

This time, Rios said during her Smith visit, “public input is key. And whether the conversation takes place around dining room tables, in classrooms, or in forums like this, it’s just the beginning.”

“It’s not just about choosing a woman for the $10,” Rios emphasized. “It’s about what we value, and what kind of history we want to teach our kids.”

Rios became interested in this issue even before she was named Treasurer of the United States. After spending several days in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, looking at the artifacts there, “it was more than obvious that women were missing,” she said. “The women who were there were allegorical, and they represented the things that we as a nation value: justice, peace, the harvest, liberty. All nameless, of course. And I thought, ‘Is this the best we can do?’”

Rios came to the conversation with a passion for history and a strong sense of justice. One of nine children born to Mexican parents who immigrated to the U.S. in 1958, Rios was raised by her mother after her parents divorced. A voracious reader who believed that education was the key to a better life, she earned a B.A. degree in sociology and Romance languages from Harvard; her thesis focused on changing notions of Latino identity. After working for many years in economic development and urban investment, she was nominated to be Treasurer of the United States by President Barack Obama in 2009.

In her six-year tenure as Treasurer, Rios has found innovative ways to highlight women’s important role in matters of currency. The walls outside her office—which formerly featured various pictures—now serve as a “Gallery of Women in Treasury,” featuring photographs of women who’ve worked for the Treasury Department.

The conversation about which woman to feature on the $10 is far from over, Rios told the group at Smith. With an announcement expected in the next few months, the Treasury Department encourages people to submit their ideas through the Treasury website, as well as by using the hashtag #TheNew10.

Editor’s note: Thanks to the students, faculty and staff who served as Rios’ “cabinet of advisers” during her visit to Smith: Alicia Bowling ’17; Jennifer Chrisler, vice president for alumnae relations; Rosetta Cohen, professor of education; Lauren Duncan, professor of psychology; Fallon Guin ’17; Daphne Lamothe, associate professor, Africana studies; Beth Myers, director of special collections; Tanya Pearson AC; Nnamdi Pole, professor of psychology; Kate Queeney, professor of chemistry; Jennifer Rajchel, project manager, Libraries Special Collections; and Dianne Wieland AC.

United States Treasurer Rosie Rios and Smith President Kathleen McCartney at a conversation McCartney hosted on campus about which woman should be featured on the new $10 bill.