US Currency To Feature First Asian American Actress Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong starred in many movies throughout her prolific career. Her chameleon-like acting prowess allowed her to slip into an array of diverse characters. Now, she will embark on a new role as the face of the American quarter.
The US Mint has just announced that one of the five women in its American Women Quarters Program will feature the face of Wong, who was the first Asian American actress. Her legacy will forever be embossed on the back of the coin as her work is honored.
Wong’s quarter will be the fifth and last iteration of the program released this year. The US Mint intends to release five new quarters featuring brilliant, trailblazing, yet overlooked women each year from 2022 to 2025. Other coins feature the faces of writer Maya Angelou and the first elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller.
With the rise of the Stop Asian Hate movement taking charge over the country and social media during the pandemic, the coin brings about much-needed Asian representation at a time when the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities are being especially marginalized.
The actress was born in Los Angeles to a family of Chinese immigrants and rose to fame after she began starring in background parts. Soon after, she took over the silver screen with her breakout role in The Toll of the Sea in 1922. However, her career didn’t jet off just yet as prejudice ran rampant in Tinseltown.
Wong had to fight for her chance to prove herself a worthy actress, with roles constantly being snatched away in favor of white actresses. Even if she was considered one of the most beautiful people in Hollywood, she was frequently denied romance parts due to a law that prohibited people of different races from kissing onscreen at the time.
Still, the starlet did not go down without a fight as she carved a name for herself no matter the adversities. She even moved to Europe, where she found better opportunities awaiting her. Eventually, was celebrated with a star on the Hollywood walk of fame in 1960, just one year before her death.
[via The New York Times and Boing Boing, images via US Mint]
