The U.S. Mint on Aug. 11 began issuing a quarter (25-cent coin) engraved with the image of Stacey Park Milbern, a Korean American activist for disability rights. (U.S. Mint)

By Park Hyeri 

The U.S. on Aug. 11 began issuing a commemorative quarter (25-cent coin) bearing the image of a Korean American activist for disability rights.

Stacey Park Milbern (1987-2020) is the first person of Korean origin to appear on American currency.

The U.S. Mint on Aug. 10 said the coin honors the life and legacy of Milbern under the American Women Quarters program.

From 2022 to this year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and other organizations have been featuring the images of 20 American women on the back of quarters, Milbern being the 19th. The program honors their contributions to society in fields like suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space and the arts.

As the eldest of three children born to Joel Milbern, who served in the U.S. Forces Korea, and the Korean-born Jean Milbern, the activist, who suffered from a congenital muscular dystrophy, became an activist who helped lay the foundation for the disability rights movement.

Select Korean news media in the U.S. reported that her Korean name was Park Ji-hye.

At age 16, Milbern made a name for herself by serving on committees for disabled people in North Carolina. In 2011, she moved to the Bay Area of Northern California and founded the Disability Justice Culture Club, championing the rights of people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ and the homeless.

The coin shows Milbern in an electric wheelchair speaking to the crowd. Wearing glasses with short hair, she is displayed putting her left hand between her neck and chest and extending her right arm as if explaining something.

The U.S. Mint said, "Stacey Park Milbern was a leader, a visionary, a problem-solver, and a fierce and compassionate activist for disability justice, ablaze with youth, purpose, and commitment."

hrhr@korea.kr