Henry Louis Gates Jr. Calls for Frederick Douglass’ Face on US Currency Bill

Henry Louis Gates Jr., a Harvard historian and cultural entrepreneur, is fighting to preserve the ageless core of abolitionist and Black writer Frederick Douglass. Douglass’ face should be on a US currency bill, he says. According to Axios, the renowned literary critic says Douglass’ legacy, which dates back to the 1800s, is still important to the United States today. “Frederick Douglass has assumed his place not only as one of America’s great orators, but also as one of the writers of the nineteenth century,” Gates said.  Douglass was honored with a commemorative quarter in 2017. He was pictured sitting at a desk, with his home in Southeast Washington, D.C., in the background. The procedure of placing him on a bill, on the other hand, would normally take far longer than a commission for coins. According to Axios, studying, designing, and introducing new anti-counterfeit procedures for banking systems might take several years, if not decades.