Oral history interview with Rosa "Rosie" G. Rios, 2022
Abstract
Rosa "Rosie" G. Rios discusses her work on the Treasury/Federal Reserve transition team of the Obama transition project, and reflects on her service as treasurer of the United States throughout all eight years of the Obama presidency. Rios recounts the scope and panic of the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, and remembers the transition team's work on major macroeconomic issues including job loss and unemployment, housing access and affordability, and small business lending and credit availability. Rios focuses on her efforts to celebrate historical American women, and she tells stories of her campaign to include portraits of women on U.S. currency for the first time. She describes the development of her interest in representation on currency, explains the processes by which Federal Reserve notes and coins are designed and updated, and shares details of her travels around the country to solicit input and feedback from the public about the redesign process. Also discussed are Rios' involvement in major Latino voter registration drives in Virginia for the Obama 2008 campaign; her effort to expand the portfolio of U.S. treasurer; generational changes in thinking about issues of gender, race, and identity; and the passage of The Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020
Presidents--United States; Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009--United States; Women on bank notes--United States; Portraits on bank notes--United States; Paper money design--United States; Rios, Rosa Gumataotao, 1965-; Obama, Barack; United States. Office of the Treasurer; United States; United States. Federal Reserve Board; Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
31 pages
Note (Biographical)
Rosa "Rosie" G. Rios is an American businesswoman, public servant, and academic. Rios served as treasurer of the United States throughout all eight years of the Obama presidency, during which she spearheaded the effort to include for the first time a portrait of a woman on a Federal Reserve note. Prior to her service in the Obama administration, Rios worked in San Francisco in economic development consulting and real estate investing, including at Red River Associates and MacFarlane Partners
Note
Interviewed by by Nicole R. Hemmer on February 22, 2022. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Rosa G. Rios, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023