Salsa Queen Celia Cruz will appear on the American Quarter

Salsa queen and Cuban icon Celia Cruz has been selected to appear on the American Quarter.

Cruz, who died in 2003, was selected by the United States Mint to be one of five recipients of the 2024 American Women’s Quarters program.

The American Women Quarters Program is a four-year initiative that honors the achievements and service of American women. The US Mint releases up to five new designs each year; they started in 2022 and will continue until 2025.

Celia Cruz, also known as Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso, was one of the best-known Latin performers of the 20th century and a cultural icon. Cruz is the recipient of numerous honors and accolades, including five Grammy Awards, a National Medal of Arts, and a posthumous Grammy for Lifetime Achievement.

“All of the honored women have lived remarkable and multi-faceted lives, and have had a significant impact on our nation in their own way,” Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson said in an official statement. “Women have pioneered change in their lifetime, not giving in to the status quo imposed in their lifetime. By honoring these pioneering women, the Mint continues to connect America through coins that are like little works of art in your pocket.

The other women chosen were Patsy Takemoto Mink, who was the first black woman to serve in Congress; Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, who was a Civil War-era surgeon, women’s rights advocate and abolitionist; Pauli Murray, poet, writer, activist, lawyer and Episcopal priest, as well as an outspoken civil rights advocate, and Zitkala-Ša, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, writer, composer, educator and political rights activist of Native Americans.

Designs for the 2024 American Women Quarters are expected to be released in mid-2023.