HARRIET TUBMAN STAMP
CONTEXT
Donald Trump: Putting Harriet Tubman On $20 Bill Is "Political Correctness"
Andrew Jackson had a great history and I think it's very rough when you take somebody off the bill. Andrew Jackson had a history of tremendous success for the country.... I would love to leave Andrew Jackson and see if we can maybe come up with another denomination. Maybe we do the $2 bill or we do another bill. I don't like seeing it. Yes, I think it's pure political correctness. Been on the bill for many, many years and really represented— somebody that was really very important to this country. — Donald Trump on the Today Show, April 21, 2016
On April 20, 2016, then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced plans to add Tubman to the front of the twenty-dollar bill, moving President Andrew Jackson to the rear of the bill. Lew instructed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to expedite the redesign process, and the new bill was expected to enter circulation sometime after 2020; however, Steven Mnuchin, the current U.S. Treasury Secretary, said that he will not commit to putting Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill, explaining "People have been on the bills for a long period of time. This is something we’ll consider; right now we have a lot more important issues to focus on." Wikipedia: Harriet Tubman
You want me to put that face on the twenty-dollar bill? — Donald Trump to Omarosa Manigault Newman
Trump Admin Stall On Tubman $20 Bill Inspires DIY Solution
The twenty-dollar bill will now not come out until 2028.... The ultimate decision on the redesign will most likely be another Secretary's down the road. — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, May 22, 2019
- The Haunted Image Of Harriet Tubman On The Twenty-Dollar Bill
- See a Design of the Harriet Tubman $20 Bill That Mnuchin Delayed
- Harriet Tubman $20 Bill Is Delayed Until Trump Leaves Office, Mnuchin Says
- Mnuchin’s excuse for delaying the Harriet Tubman $20 bill is insulting
- Women on 20s
- Harriet Tubman Won’t Appear on $20 Bill Next Year, Treasury Secretary Says
- Mnuchin Doesn’t Endorse Placing Harriet Tubman on the New $20 Bill
- Harriet Tubman on the $20? Trump’s Treasury Department Won’t Commit
- What's Happening With the Harriet Tubman $20 Bill? It's Still Not Clear
- Harriet Tubman Ousts Andrew Jackson in Change for a $20
- The Priceless Impact Harriet Tubman Will Have as the Face of the $20 Bill
- Andrew Jackson was a slaver, ethnic cleanser, and tyrant. He deserves no place on our money.
- Harriet Tubman scholar: the $20 "might make people think twice about the legacy of slavery"
MAKING THE STAMP
Instructions on making your own stamps
BUYING THE STAMP
We are selling the stamps here on Etsy. Beware of imitators. Our design includes a semi-circular notch for alignment as well as high-quality real molded rubber from master stamp maker Mr. John Casey. This provides far superior stamping quality to the DIY version. We've also made our designs available for free.
If there are no items listed it's because we are out of stock due to high demand. We're working hard to make more stamps and keep these available for purchase! Sign up for restock notifications to be notified as soon as more stamps go into stock.
USING THE STAMP
Instructions on how to stamp your $20s
Find a stamping station near you
STORES
STAMPING STATIONS
- Kilgore Books — 624 E 13th Ave, Denver, CO
- The General Store & Co. — 7922 Santa Fe Dr., Overland Park, KS
- Hope Central Church — 85 Seaverns Ave, Jamaica Plain, MA
- Purl's Yarn Emporium — 10 Wall St, Asheville, NC
- Futureworks Makerspace — Brooklyn Army Terminal, Building B, Unit 1C, 140 58th St, Brooklyn, NY
- Quimby's Bookstore — 536 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY
- The Way Station — 683 Washington Ave, Brooklyn, NY
- Casey Rubber Stamps — 322 East 11th Street, New York, NY
- Cheeky Sandwiches — 35 Orchard St, New York, NY
- Scarr's Pizza — 22 Orchard St, New York, NY
- Staten Island Makerspace — 450 Front St, Staten Island, NY
- Brickbat Books — 709 S 4th St, Philadelphia, PA
- Biddle's Escape — 401 Biddle Ave, Pittsburgh, PA
- Tinkertopia — 1914 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, WA
EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS
- TUBMAN by Lacresha Berry — Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn, NY. March 11, 2020
- BlackIssuesISSUES — Joe's Pub, New York, NY. February 29, 2020
- The Value of Money — Gallery of Numismatics, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC. July 1, 2019 - ongoing
- Which Mirror Do You Want To Lick? — Frans Masereel Centrum, Kasterlee, Belgium. June 30 - September 15, 2019
- Stamp Harriet Tubman on History — Futureworks Makerspace, Brooklyn, NY. June 22, 2019
- Harriet Tubman Stamp Making Workshop — TinkerTech, Ypsilanti, MI. 2019
- A Celebration of Awesomeness — New Woman Space, Brooklyn, NY. September 22, 2018
- Designed Howlings presented by SXRVXVE — Ugly Duck, London, UK. July 19-22, 2018
COLLECTIONS
- The British Museum: stamp — London, UK
- The British Museum: banknote — London, UK
- New-York Historical Society — New York, NY
- International Slavery Museum — Liverpool, UK
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center — Washington DC
- Fitzwilliam Museum — Cambridge, UK
- Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion — Irvine, CA
PRESS
- Garage: This Artist Isn't Waiting For The Official Harriet Tubman $20 Bill
- Business Insider: This Stamp Puts Harriet Tubman On The $20 Bill (video)
- Rachel Maddow: Trump Admin Stall On Tubman $20 Bill Inspires DIY Solution (video)
- Washington Post: Harriet Tubman Is Already Appearing on $20 Bills Whether Trump Officials Like It or Not
- NY Magazine: I Can Buy Cereal and Cookie Butter With My Harriet Tubman–Stamped $20 Bills
- "Doin' It" with Greg and Marlon on Newark.FM (audio)
- Law and Disorder Radio (audio)
- This Stamp Lets You Put Harriet Tubman On The $20 Bill In An Act Of "Civil Disobedience"
- Why we need Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill
- Canada’s Viola Desmond civil rights heroine banknote wins international awards while the U.S. Harriet Tubman banknote proposal stagnates
- Hyperallergic: Designer Releases 3D-Printed Stamp to Put Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill
- Boing Boing: 3D print this Harriet Tubman stamp and fix all those twenties that Mnuchin forgot to take Andrew Jackson off of
- Kottke: The Harriet Tubman $20 Stamp
- The Root: Tubmans Over Everything
- Open Culture: Designer Creates a 3D-Printed Stamp That Replaces Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill
ORIGINAL IMAGE
The original image upon which this stamp is based is a carte-de-visite portrait of Harriet Tubman taken in Auburn, NY around 1868. It is the earliest known photograph of her. It can be found at the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
More information about Harriet Tubman can be found here:
PRECEDENT
British one penny coin from 1903, defaced by Suffragettes. British Museum.
- Suffragette Penny
- History of the World in 100 Objects: Suffragette-defaced penny
- A Short History of the Suffragette Penny
- Hyperallergic: British Pennies Defaced in Protest by a Suffragette
- "Gay Money" Stamps
- "Gay money": The currency of change?
- Queer Money Overstamp
- Queer money $$$
- "Stamp Gay Dollars" Campaign
- A short history of putting political messages on greenbacks
- Notable Women
- Stamp Stampede
- In Drones We Trust
- Occupy George
CHARITIES
Profits from the sale of Tubman stamps are donated to charity. Below is a list of non-profit organizations whose work is supported by the sale of these stamps. For inquiries, suggestions, or further details please contact info@tubmanstamp.com
- ACLU
- Black Chef Movement
- Black Visions Collective
- Brooklyn Book Bodega
- AJ Muste Memorial Institute
- CAMBA
- Close The Water Gap
- Dig Deep
- Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
- Flatbush United Mutual Aid
- Flip the Senate
- Florida Restorative Rights Coalition
- Freedom University
- Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance
- Lakota People's Law Project
- The Okra Project
- Planned Parenthood Action Fund
- Rachel Cargle Therapy For Black Women & Girls
- RAICES Texas
- Reclaim the Block
- Red Hook Community Justice Center
- Sister Song
- Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund
- The Summer Camp
- Thurgood Marshall College Fund
IS THIS LEGAL?
Though anti-counterfeiting laws prohibit the willful destruction of, and stamping of advertisements upon, paper money, pursuant to I.I.18 U.S.C. § 333 of the United States Code, stamped currency is fit for circulation so long as its denomination remains legible.
For more legal information, refer to this blog post.
MAILING LIST
SOCIAL MEDIA
CONTACT
SUPPORT
This project was a recipient of a generous grant from the Awesome Foundation.
LICENSE
Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike license