Rosa Parks finalist in $20-bill campaign

Rosa Parks, the mother of the civil rights movement, could be the face of the nation's new $20 bill.

She's among the top four finalists in a grassroots voting campaign aimed at convincing the U.S. Treasury Department to put a woman on new $20 bills.

"There are so few reminders in our everyday lives of great women who've contributed to the shaping of our nation," said Susan Ades Stone, executive director of the nonprofit movement called Women on 20s. "It's time to correct that and putting a woman on a $20 is like having a little pocket monument."

The group plans to present results of final balloting to the U.S. Department of Treasury to encourage the department to issue new 20s with a woman's face in 2020 to mark the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote.

The first round of balloting began in March — Women's history month — and ended Sunday. That initial field of 15 was narrowed to four from votes e-mailed from across the U.S. (Cherokee nation chief Wilma Mankiller was added to the group later because of popular demand.)

The final four, in addition to Parks, are abolitionist Harriet Tubman, human rights advocate and former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mankiller.

"While only four candidates will move on to the next round, every one of the 15 candidates came out a winner because people of all ages across the country took the time to get to know them and pay them homage with their votes," Ades Stone said in a news release Monday.

A definitive end date for voting has not been set, but it will be within the next few weeks, Ades Stone said.

People can vote on the website womenon20s.org.

Their slogan is "A Woman's Place is On the Money."

Contact Cassandra Spratling: cspratling@freepress.com or 313-223-4580. Follow her on Twitter @cassprat.