Tired Of Waiting, Boston Church Stamps $20s With Harriet Tubman

JAMAICA PLAIN, MA — After the government put a hold on a Treasury Department plan to put Harriet Tubman's face on the $20 bill by next year, groups across the country have been taking the matter into their own hands, including Hope Central Church at the corner of Elm and Seaverns street.

Since May, the church, which is passionate about inclusion and fighting racism, has been taking $20 bills from its offering collection and stamping the abolitionist's face atop of President Andrew Jackson, who is currently the face of the bill, according to a church Facebook post highlighting a religionnews.com article.

According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, there are no records outlining the decision to put Jackson on the $20 bill. But, his presidency is most remembered for his brutal treatment of Native Americans. Jackson pushed for the Indian Removal Act, which displaced tens of thousands of Cherokees from their native lands in the Southeast to regions west of the Mississippi River. The move killed thousands uprooted from their ancestral homes.

The Obama administration announced plans to put Tubman on the $20 bill. She served as a Union scout during the Civil War and championed women's voting rights. But the plan was put on hold once Trump took office.

In response, artist Dano Wall created a stamp pattern for folks to put Tubman's image on a $20, themselves. Wall said he has sold out of the stamps, which go for around $10, and plans to create more.

"There has been a surge of interest in this stamp given the recent news out of the Treasury Dept," Wall posted online.

The original image for this stamp comes from an 1868 Benjamin Powelson portrait, currently the earliest known photograph of her, according to Wall. She would have been about 46 at the time it was taken.

Read the post:

RELATED:

• Where's Harriet Tubman?
• Harriett Tubman $20 Bill Delayed While Trump Is President (May 2019)
• Harriet Tubman Will Replace Andrew Jackson On $20 Bill (2016)

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).