U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced the release of the Patsy T. Mink quarter on Thursday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Congresswoman Mink, the first Asian American to serve in Congress, will be honored as a part of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program. From 2022 through 2025, the program will release one new quarter a year featuring different women. This year, the Mint selected the third-generation Japanese American.
Sen. Hirono announced the news alongside David Lassner, the University of Hawaii President, Keith Hayashi, the State Department of Education Superintendent, and other community members, West Hawaii Today reports.
“As the first woman of color to serve in Congress, Patsy Mink was a trailblazer who fought to ensure that generations of girls and women could have every opportunity men have,” Sen. Hirono said per West Hawaii Today.
Mink served the U.S. House for 24 years and fought for gender equity in education. She wrote Title IX, renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act.
“Congresswoman Mink’s legacy lives on through Title IX, the landmark legislation she authored to outlaw sex-based discrimination in education,” Hirono continued.
Born and raised in Maui, Mink served as a Democrat of Hawaii. In 2022, she died from pneumonia at 74.
The launch of the quarter will help people across the country to “learn more about her life and contributions to the fight for social justice, equality, and civil rights,” Hirono said.
In 2021, Hirono asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to honor Mink through the American Women Quarters Program.
Spectrum News reports that Beth Zaiken designed the quarter and John P. McGraw sculpted it. The quarter shows Mink holding Title IX adorned with a lei. The bottom reads “EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN EDUCATION” with the U.S. Capitol Building in the background.
“The Patsy T. Mink quarter serves as a powerful reminder of Congresswoman Mink’s enduring impact on civil rights and the importance of her contributions in shaping a more equitable society,” legal director at ACLU Hawaii, Wookie Kim said. “The quarter also reminds us that we must recommit ourselves today to the ongoing fight for equality and justice for all.”
The quarter can now be purchased on the U.S. Mint’s website.
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