The late Texas journalist and activist Jovita Idár is featured on new quarter dollar coin
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A Mexican-American journalist and civil rights crusader who lived her life in Texas at the turn of the previous century and worked to move political mountains with her words was selected to have her image placed on U.S. currency.
The U.S. Mint said on its website that the Jovita Idár quarter dollar is the ninth coin in the United States Mint's American Women Quarters Program. It began circulation on Aug. 14,
“Jovita Idár was a Mexican-American journalist, activist, teacher, and suffragist,” the Mint noted. “She devoted her life to fighting against separatist ideologies and sought to create a better future for Mexican-Americans.”
Idár died in San Antonio on June 15, 1946.
The University of Texas at San Antonio announced last week that it will team up with the United States Mint and the National Women’s History Museum to co-host a celebration of the coin’s release on Thursday, Sept.14, at the UTSA’s Downtown Campus.
The event starts at 5:30 p.m. with a roundtable discussion called “The Historical Significance, Public Impact, and Legacy of Jovita Idár,” in the Buena Vista Street Building Aula Canaria, followed by the release celebration at 7 p.m. in the campus’ Buena Vista Street Building Theater.
Journalism was the family business; activism was the family’s mission
Idár was born on Sep. 7, 1885, in Laredo. Her father, Nicasio Idár, was a newspaper editor and a civil rights advocate.
A National Park Service biography stated that she inherited her father’s newspaper and “disguised her identity when she published her editorials. Two of her known names were Ave Negra (Black Bird) and Astrea (the Greek goddess of justice).”
Jovita Idár followed in her father’s footsteps, becoming a well-known and outspoken political activist who advocated for the rights of Mexican Americans, according to the Caller-Times archives. Journalism and civil rights advocacy was a family tradition. Her brother Eduardo Idár was also a journalist and civil-rights activist.
In addition to promoting promoting civil rights for the Hispanic community and documenting poor treatment of women, her paper also supported the revolution in Mexico that happened in 1910. Idár traveled to Mexico as a nurse to care for wounded soldiers, the Park Service website stated.
”Her ideas and practices were ahead of her time,” the U.S. Mint noted while announcing the new coin.” She made it her mission to pursue civil rights for Mexican-Americans and believed education was the foundation for a better future. Idar wrote many news articles in various publications speaking out about racism and supporting the revolution in Mexico.”
In 1911 the Idár family organized a conference in Laredo to address racial inequality. The Congreso Mexicanista was the first effort by Mexican Americans to band together throughout the state of Texas to discuss problems such as segregated schools and lack of access to polling sites, according to the Caller-Times archive.
Idár joined the First Mexicanist Congress in Laredo in 1911 and organized Mexican-American activists, the Mint’s news release noted. “She and other women formed La Liga Femenil Mexicanista, or the League of Mexican Women, a political and charitable organization that sought to empower Mexican-American women. Idar was chosen as its first president.”
A different look for George Washington
The coin has some unique features, and the Mint included some background to help people make “heads” and “tails” of them.
The front of the coin (heads) has a portrait of George Washington that was originally composed and sculpted by the late sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser to mark George Washington’s 200th birthday,” the release said. It was a recommended design for the 1932 quarter, but the then-treasury secretary went instead with the John Flanagan design most associate with the quarter.
The reverse side (tails) features an image of Idár with her hands clasped together.
“Within her body are inscriptions representing some of her greatest accomplishments and the newspapers for which she wrote,” the Mint noted.
The coin’s image of Idar was designed by medallic artist John McGraw. He joined the U.S. Mint in January 2014 as a product design specialist, according to the U.S. Mint’s website.
Founded in 1792, the Mint is the nation’s only creator of legal tender U.S. coins and is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the nation to conduct its trade and commerce, its website stated.
“The Mint also produces coin-related products, including proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; and silver and gold bullion coins,” the site noted “
The coin program was authorized by Congress in 2020 via the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, Public Law 116-330, which called for collectable circulation commemorative coins to be minted to honor contributions “in a wide spectrum of accomplishments and fields, including but not limited to suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and arts, and should honor women from ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse backgrounds.”
An addition to the law noted that the quarter dollars are to be “emblematic of prominent American women and commemorating the 19th Amendment.”
The same law also calls for five new designs for quarters and five for half dollars to be issued honoring sports played by American youth and circulated after the womens’ commemorative coin program is finished.
The law also addresses standards for the creation of future Olympic medals.
Other American Women Quarters Program honorees listed on the U.S. Mint website are:
2022
Maya Angelou – celebrated writer, performer, and social activist
Dr. Sally Ride – physicist, astronaut, educator, and first American woman in space
Wilma Mankiller – first woman elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation
Nina Otero-Warren – suffrage leader and the first woman superintendent of Santa Fe public schools
Anna May Wong – first Chinese American film star in Hollywood
2023
Bessie Coleman – first African American and first Native American woman licensed pilot
Edith Kanakaʻole – indigenous Hawaiian composer, custodian of native culture and traditions
Eleanor Roosevelt – leader, reformer, first lady, and author
Jovita Idár – Mexican-American journalist, activist, teacher, and suffragist
Maria Tallchief – America’s first prima ballerina
2024
Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray – poet, writer, activist, lawyer, and Episcopal priest
Patsy Takemoto Mink – first woman of color to serve in Congress
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker – Civil War era surgeon, women’s rights and dress reform advocate
Celia Cruz – Cuban-American singer, cultural icon, and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century
Zitkala-Ša – writer, composer, educator, and political activist
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Texas journalist, activist Jovita Idár is on new quarter dollar coin
