SALSA QUEEN CELIA CRUZ BECOMES FIRST AFRO LATINA ON A U.S. QUARTER

The first Afro-Latina to appear on a U.S. coin, Celia Cruz, also known as the "Queen of Salsa," is the fourth woman to be honoured in the 2024 American Women Quarters Program. The career of this dynamic vocal powerhouse crossed decades, genres, and continents. That's a lot of life and melody to capture on a little metal disc, but Phebe Hemphill, a medallic artist for the U.S. Mint, rose to the occasion and produced an eye-catching pocket portrait.

Hemphill stated, "I knew I had to make the design for superstar Celia Cruz as dynamic as she was." "I tried to create a design that truly reflected her greatness and vitality after watching her perform in her iconic rumba dress." Hemphill creates her designs using a combination of 3D imaging software and traditional clay relief sculpture.

Encapsulating Cruz's energy would be a challenging task, given her reputation for having a powerful voice, an amazing vocal range, improvisational lyrics, on-stage humour and dancing, and contagious flamboyance. The style of the performer has also had an effect. She wore colourful wigs, stunning gowns with feathers, ruffles, and sequins, and stunningly high heels. 

Her favourite clothes, including one that was inspired by the Cuban Rumba, are now housed at the Smithsonian. Fortunately, the quarter features an animated Cruz wearing her trademark stunning clothing, grinning next to her catchphrase, "¡Azúcar!" (sugar), which was first coined as a joke about Cuba's strong coffee and has since become a staple of her live performances. (Laura Gardin Fraser created the reverse side's image of George Washington in 1932.) 

Cruz, who was born Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso in 1925 in Havana's Barrio Santos Suarez, had a deep love for music at a young age. Despite her father's desire for her to become a teacher, she abandoned her education program to enrol in Havana's National Conservatory of Music. Singing for the well-known orchestra La Sonora Matancera was one of Cruz's first major breaks after she began her career as a performer for neighbourhood cabarets and radio shows. Pedro Knight, the trumpet player, eventually became her manager and spouse. 

Cruz relocated to Mexico and subsequently New Jersey following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, beginning a career in the United States marked by platinum and gold records, motion pictures, Grammys, and other notable accomplishments and honours.