Hirono announces release of Edith Kanakaʻole commemorative quarter design

Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), announced the release today of a new commemorative quarter design honoring Edith Kanakaʻole.

The quarter’s design is one of five released today by the United States Mint honoring prominent women in American history, including Bessie Coleman, Jovita Idar, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Maria Tallchief, as part of the Mint’s American Women Quarters Program. Senator Hirono previously urged the Mint to include Kanakaʻole as one of the women highlighted.

“Edith Kanakaʻole was a prominent leader in the revitalization of Hawaiian language and culture—notably as a renowned kumu hula,” said Senator Hirono. “She helped preserve and spread Hawaiian language, traditions, and history, contributing so much to the Native Hawaiian community, Hawaii, and our nation. It is fitting that she be honored with this special recognition. I’m pleased to see the design for her commemorative quarter today, and I  look forward to seeing these quarters put into circulation, so that people in every corner of our country can learn more about Edith Kanakaʻole and her remarkable life.”

Authorized by the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, the American Women Quarters Program features coins with designs emblematic of the accomplishments and contributions of prominent American women.

Contributions come from a wide spectrum of fields including, but not limited to, suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and the arts. The women honored come from ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse backgrounds.

As required by the law, no living person will be featured in the coin designs, and thus all the women honored were done so posthumously. The Mint is issuing five coins with different reverse designs annually over the four-year period from 2022 through 2025.