Celia Cruz Will Be First Afro-Latina to Appear on the U.S. Quarter

Ms. Cruz won five Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Grammy, the mint said.

In addition to her voice, Ms. Cruz was known for wearing dazzling outfits and large wigs. She moved to New York in 1961 and eventually to Fort Lee, N.J., where, in 2003, she died at 77 from complications after surgery for a brain tumor.

“When people hear me sing,” she told The New York Times in 1985, “I want them to be happy, happy, happy. I don’t want them thinking about when there’s not any money, or when there’s fighting at home. My message is always felicidad — happiness.”

The American Women Quarters Program, which began in 2022 and will run through 2025, honors women in fields including civil rights and science who have made contributions to U.S. history, according to the mint’s website.

Honorees are chosen by the Treasury secretary after consulting with the American Women’s History Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Women’s History Museum and the Congressional Bipartisan Women’s Caucus, the mint said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/us/celia-cruz-quarters.html