Janet Yellen’s Signature on U.S. Currency Marks First Time Bills Autographed by Two Women

Ms. Malerba will be the first Native American woman to have her signature appear on U.S. money, according to the Treasury Department. The new currency will be delivered to the Federal Reserve, which Ms. Yellen once led as chair, this month. The bills will enter circulation beginning next year. 

Photos: A U.S. Currency Milestone

Ms. Yellen said Thursday that the Treasury was moving forward with plans to design a $20 bill that replaces former President

Andrew Jackson

with a portrait of

Harriet Tubman.

The U.S. Mint this year rolled out new coins featuring the portraits of women, including poet

Maya Angelou.

“Money also has a deeper social purpose. Because currency is something we use and we touch every day and, when done right, it can tell us who we are, what we value and what is possible,” Ms. Yellen said. 

The process for placing fresh signatures on the bank notes couldn’t begin until the appointment of a new Treasurer. President Biden chose Ms. Malerba, who is the chief of the Mohegan tribe, for the job in June.

So Ms. Yellen had plenty of time to prepare her signature for the currency. In an interview with

Stephen Colbert

on the “Late Show” last week, Ms. Yellen said she repeatedly practiced her signature after she had heard that her predecessors struggled with the task. 

“I practiced and practiced. I had heard stories. Two of my predecessors, President

Obama

‘s Treasury secretaries,

Tim Geithner

and

Jack Lew,

signed the currency and their signatures were so illegible that people made fun of them,” Ms. Yellen said. 

“For both of them, it was decided that they should redo it. And so I knew that this was something you could really screw up,” she added. 

Several women who served as Treasurer have had their signatures appear on U.S. currency.

Georgia Neese Clark,

appointed by

Harry Truman,

was the first woman to serve as Treasurer, according to the department. Ms. Yellen is the first woman to sign bank notes as Treasury Secretary.

At Thursday’s event, Ms. Yellen said the Treasury first began regularly hiring women during the Civil War to help prevent currency counterfeiting. She called for the department and economics profession to continue hiring more women. 

“And I hope that today is a reminder of the road we have traveled on equity and inclusion, and I hope it motivates us to continue to move forward,” she said. 

Write to Andrew Duehren at [email protected]