P & D Currency

The Loudest Quiet Revolution in Sports
Gibson didn’t march under a banner. She hit through it—powerfully, precisely, and at a personal cost the record books rarely tally.

On a summer afternoon in London in 1957, the stage looked like it always had: clipped grass, white dresses, controlled applause, and a culture of decorum that insisted it was simply “sport.” But when Althea Gibson walked into the final at The Championships, Wimbledon, the theater of tradition was also a theater of race—whether the All England Club admitted it or not. Tennis in the mid-century Atlantic world liked to imagine itself as a meritocracy, and yet it had been curated, protected, and policed as a private garden. Gibson’s presence didn’t merely introduce a contender. It introduced a contradiction: if the sport was as fair as it claimed, why had it taken 80 years for a Black champion to arrive?

She won anyway.

Read the full story at https://www.kolumnmagazine.com/2026/02/02/the-loudest-quiet-revolution-in-sports/

The strong turned upward gaze in this early portrait conveys Ida B. Wells’ bold and determined spirit. A relentless fighter for justice, Wells began her activist work as a young woman in the 1890s. She investigated lynching violence and reported her findings in her newspaper the Memphis Free Speech and Headlights. After a mob burned down her office on May 27, 1892 she relocated to Chicago for safety. Nevertheless, Ida B. Wells continued to write, deliver speeches, and organize groups to fight for racial justice and women’s rights.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and it does seem to me that notwithstanding all these social agencies and activities there is not that vigilance which should be exercised in the preservation of our rights."—Ida B. Wells, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells

This photo, by Oscar B. Willis, is part of the Ida B. Wells portrait collection, Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center. https://ow.ly/YelV50Z6gFg

What’s new from the U.S. Mint? THE HALF DOLLAR celebrating the Semiquincentennial (SemiQ) Purchase your set now - one minted in Philadelphia & one in Denver. Click the link below👇🏽

Hello JUNE! The rabbits are relaxing, birds are singing & eating worms and my grass is free of chemicals! Summer is coming😁

To our Muslim neighbors celebrating Eid-al-Adha, we wish you a joyous and meaningful holiday. Eid Mubarak!

Thank you to our new customer who found me on Shopify! Order has shipped!

This Memorial Day, we honor the life and legacy of Robert Fitzgerald, a Civil War veteran and grandfather of Pauli Murray. This past week, descendants of Robert Fitzgerald gathered for the installation of a long-overdue headstone marking his resting place in the Fitzgerald Family Cemetery in Durham.

For decades, descendants and advocates have fought to preserve and restore this historic Black burial ground connected to generations of Durham’s Black families and to Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray’s own family history. Their advocacy has brought renewed attention to the neglect, desecration, and erasure faced by Black cemeteries across the South.

Robert Fitzgerald served during the Civil War and went on to become part of a generation of Black landowners and community builders who shaped Durham after emancipation. This new headstone reflects years of tireless work by descendants, historians, and community advocates who refused to let these stories disappear.

As we remember those who served this Memorial Day, we also remember the ongoing work of protecting Black history, sacred spaces, and the dignity of those who came before us.



📸 Do you have photos from the headstone dedication you'd like to share with us? Send them over to [email protected] and we'll be sure to share them with the community!

Guess who’s back? 👀🇺🇸

For the first time since 1947, Lady Liberty appears on a circulating coin with the new 2026 Enduring Liberty Half Dollar.

See the new designs, learn how coins are made, and test your knowledge with California coin trivia in the May edition of Coins Online.

🔗 usmint.gov/news/coins-online/may-2026