Cuban American salsa singer Celia Cruz onstage acting at VH1 Divas Live: The One and Only Aretha Franklin in New York City in 2001. Cruz is being honored on the U.S. quarter in 2024.
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Cuban American salsa singer Celia Cruz onstage acting at VH1 Divas Live: The One and Only Aretha Franklin in New York City in 2001. Cruz is being honored on the U.S. quarter in 2024.
Scott Gries/Getty Images
Celia Cruz was used to making historical past. The late Cuban American icon recorded over 80 albums, earned 23 gold data, gained 5 Grammy Awards, and obtained the president’s National Medal of Arts. And now, the U.S. Mint is honoring Cruz with a quarter of her personal, making her the first Afro Latina to appear on the coin.
She is one of 5 honorees who’re a half of the American Women Quarters Program for 2024. The program, which started in 2022 and runs till 2025, celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of American ladies. Other honorees for 2024 embody Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first lady of colour to serve in Congress; Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War surgeon and suffragist; Pauli Murray, a civil rights activist and lawyer; and Zitkala-Ša, a voting rights activist from the Yankton Sioux Nation.
“All of the women being honored have lived remarkable and multi-faceted lives, and have made a significant impact on our Nation in their own unique way,” mentioned Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson in a assertion.
“The women pioneered change during their lifetimes, not yielding to the status quo imparted during their lives. By honoring these pioneering women, the Mint continues to connect America through coins which are like small works of art in your pocket.”
Cruz was born in 1925 in Havana. She initially made a splash in Cuba as the lead singer for the nation’s hottest orchestra, La Sonora Matancera. After the Cuban Revolution, she immigrated to the U.S. in 1961 and helped outline the sound of the salsa music we all know and love at this time. Her energetic stage presence, extravagant costumes and unbelievable voice made her a family identify throughout her greater than 60-year profession. She died in 2003 at the age of 77.
The designs for the 2024 American Women Quarters will be launched in mid-2023.