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Maya Angelou, other women will be celebrated on new U.S. coins

The Maya Angelou Quarter. Image from the United States Mint. Screenshot: KERI BROWN/WFDD

Poet, actress, author, and activist Maya Angelou will be honored on U.S. coins.

The United States Mint is honoring the achievements of women who have had an impact on the nation's history.

The American Women Quarters Program was authorized by Congress and celebrates a diverse group from different eras and backgrounds. Maya Angelou's quarter shows her arms wide open and lifted with the image of a bird and sun shining behind her.

Some of her notable work includes her autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." In 1993, Angelou was the first African American woman to write and present a poem at a presidential inauguration.

She had strong ties to North Carolina. 

Angelou lived in Winston-Salem and taught students at Wake Forest University for more than 30 years.

She died in 2014 at the age of 86.

The first series of coins will also feature astronaut Sally Ride; actress Anna May Wong; suffragist and politician Nina Otero-Warren; and Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. 

The coins will be released beginning next year through 2025.

*Correction: A previous version of this story indicated that Angelou wrote and presented a poem at the presidential inauguration in 1992. The inauguration was in 1993. 

Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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