The newest doll in the 'Inspiring Women' collection is the late famed author and poet Dr. The American public was invited to submit names of iconic women for the programme after a bill put forward by Democrat congresswoman Barbara Lee. Mattel's Barbie brand has been recreating some of the world's most inspiring women. The Angelou quarter is the first in the US Mint’s American Women Quarters programme, which will include the physicist and first female astronaut Dr Sally Ride and Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, later this year. I’m very proud that these coins celebrate the contributions of some of America’s most remarkable women, including Maya Angelou,” said Janet Yellen, US treasury secretary. “Each time we redesign our currency, we have the chance to say something about our country – what we value, and how we’ve progressed as a society.
The author of 36 books – and the recipient of more than 20 honorary degrees – she read her poem On the Pulse of the Morning at Bill Clinton’s 1992 inauguration, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2010.
The poet and writer, who died in 2014, was the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, in which she wrote about the racial discrimination she experienced growing up. Photograph: The Department of Treasury/AFP/Getty Images