Hawaiian cultural historian and instructor will be featured on the U.S. quarter

The late Edith Kanakaʻole was a guardian and instructor of Native Hawaiian culture.

The legendary teacher of hula and University of Hawaiʻi instructor Edith Kanakaʻole, who died in 1979, is among the 2023 honorees for the American Women Quarters™ Program announced by the United States Mint.

An award-winning composer and former instructor at Hawaiʻi Community College and UH Hilo, Kanakaʻole will be one of five American women to be minted on new quarters next year, joining fellow honorees such as former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Maria Tallchief, America’s first Native American prima ballerina.

2023 American Women Quarters Program honorees: Eleanor Roosevelt (center), top from left, Maria Tallchief, Edith Edith Kanakaʻole; bottom from left, Jovita Idár, Bessie Coleman

This is the second iteration of a series the mint will be issuing with different reverse designs each year during a four-year span from 2022 through 2025.

The first batch of quarters featured Asian American acting legend Anna May Wong's image, the first AAPI to appear on U.S. currency. 

Others featured in the first issuance of commemorative quarters also included: Maya Angelou; astronaut Sally Ride; suffragist and politician Nina Otero-Warren; and Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.

"The range of accomplishments and experiences of these extraordinary women speak to the contributions women have always made in the history of our country," said Mint Deputy Director Ventris Gibson in a statement issued in March during Women's History Month. "I am proud that the Mint continues to connect America through coins by honoring these pioneering women and their groundbreaking contributions to our society."

During her time at Hawaiʻi CC and UH Hilo, Kanakaʻole developed a variety of courses on ethnobotany, Polynesian history, genealogy and Hawaiian chant and mythology. 

Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele, a retired Hawaiʻi CC Hawaiian studies professor and daughter of the late Kanakaʻole, released this statement on the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation website: 

“My mother was a ‘pusher’ but she always did it with a smile. She pushed all six of her children, when it was not yet a natural process for Hawaiians, toward higher education to earn a degree. When she became an instructor at the University of Hawaiʻi in Hilo, she encouraged Hawaiian students to 1) maintain their stay and earn their degree, 2) know who they were as Hawaiians and elevate the status of the Lāhui.”

In the late 1970s, Kanakaʻole recorded Hiʻipoi I Ka ʻĀina Aloha (Cherish the Beloved Land), which later captured a Nā Hōkū Hanohano award for Best Traditional Album of the Year. The album features mele (songs) that express her love for the land and includes compositions such as “Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai” that celebrates the various limu of the sea, and is also a popular song performed by hula dancers of all ages.Kanakaʻole founded Hālau o Kekuhi, an internationally recognized dance company known for its ʻaihaʻa or low-postured, bombastic style of hula. 

In 1999, Kanahele helped launch I Ola Hāloa Center for Hawaiʻi Life Styles at Hawaiʻi CC. The program, which stresses the importance of Hawaiian cultural values and practices in higher education, is intertwined with teaching styles and lessons that stem directly from Kanakaʻole.

The other women who will be honored by having their image on the American quarter include:

• Bessie Coleman – pilot, advocate, and pioneer who flew to great heights as the first African American and first Native American woman pilot, as well as the first African American to earn an international pilot’s license.
• Jovita Idar – Mexican American journalist, activist, teacher, and suffragist. She devoted her life to fighting against separatist ideologies and sought to create a better future for Mexican Americans.
• Eleanor Roosevelt – first lady, author, reformer, and leader. As chairperson of the Human Rights Commission where she oversaw the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and as the first chair of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, she advocated diligently for the civil liberties and needs of the poor, minorities, and the disadvantaged.
• Maria Tallchief – America’s first prima ballerina, she broke barriers as a Native American ballerina who exhibited strength and resilience both on and off the stage.

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Anna May Wong coin is the change Asian Americans seek

If you are among those still using real money, be sure to check your change starting today. You might get a quarter with the image of Anna May Wong on it.

 The Anna May Wong Quarter is the fifth coin in the American Women Quarters™ Program. Anna May Wong was the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood. She left a legacy for women in the film industry.

Wong, born in Los Angeles in 1905, appeared in more than 60 movies throughout her career. In addition to her roles in silent films, television, and stage, she landed a role in one of the first movies made in Technicolor. She achieved international success despite racism and discrimination.

The quarter is the result of the American Women Quarters Program, a four-year program that celebrates the accomplishments and contributions made by women to the development and history of our country. 

RELATED: Movie about Anna May Wong planned, starring Gemma Chan

"Each time we redesign our currency, we have the chance to say something about our country — what we value, and how we've progressed as a society. I'm very proud that these coins celebrate the contributions of some of America's most remarkable women," said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who had final approval over the choices.

The quarter was designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Designer Emily Damstra and sculpted by United States Mint Medallic Artist John McGraw.

“Many prominent actors from the 1920s and 1930s saw their name framed by lightbulbs on movie theater marquees, so I thought it made sense to feature Anna May Wong in this way,” said Damstra. “Along with the hard work, determination, and skill Anna May Wong brought to the profession of acting, I think it was her face and expressive gestures that really captivated movie audiences, so I included these elements next to her name.”

The Mint will begin shipping the quarters on October 24. If you’d prefer not to wait for circulating change, you can order the currency from the U.S. Mint.

Beginning in 2022, and continuing through 2025, the U.S. Mint will issue up to five new reverse designs each year. The obverse of each coin will maintain a likeness of George Washington, but is different from the design used during the previous quarter program.

Anna May Wong, the first Asian American female movie star.

The other women in the first batch that the program is honoring are:

• Maya Angelou – celebrated writer, performer, and social activist
• Dr. Sally Ride – physicist, astronaut, educator, and first American woman in space
• Wilma Mankiller – first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation
• Nina Otero-Warren – a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement and the first female superintendent of Santa Fe public schools

The American Women Quarters may feature contributions from a variety of fields, including, but not limited to, suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and the arts. The women honored will be from ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse backgrounds.

Upcoming, a quarter featuring the legendary teacher of hula and University of Hawaiʻi instructor Edith Kanakaʻole, will be minted.

The American Women Quarters Program is authorized by the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-330).

Look for these quarters in your change. Or shop online and enroll in this groundbreaking program to sign up to receive all four annual installments as they become available. Limited quantities will be produced, so enroll today to ensure you receive a complete collection!

“Anna May Wong was basically ‘hashtag representation matters’ decades before Twitter was even invented,” Paula Yoo told the New York Times. Yoo is a screenwriter in Los Angeles who wrote a children’s book about Wong’s life. “That’s why this quarter is important — because she’s minted, she’s part of Americana, she’s part of American history.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.