ARTICLE PROFILES MARY ELLEN WITHROW

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 40, October 7, 2018, Article 13

The Marion Star from Marion, OH has a nice article about Mary Ellen Withrow, the former Treasurer of the United States under President Bill Clinton (from March 1, 1994 to January 20, 2001). -Editor

Mary Ellen Withrow walked behind a typically closed door at the Primrose Retirement Community on Thursday. With a flashlight in hand she paused at a plaque bearing her name.

The Harding Graduate had once been awarded the Guinness World Record for having her name on more paper currency than anyone else in the country's history.

"No one has beat my record since," the 87-year-old joked noting that her signature has made it onto more than 68 billion bills.

She said it is part of a collection of items that represent a portal into her life as well as American history.

It serves as a road map of a long political career that took a Marion County woman from a seat on the local school board to the U.S. Treasurer's Office.

Pictures of former presidents, foreign diplomats and political memorabilia hang on the walls of the moderately sized space next to room 105 at Primrose. Tucked behind a glass case is a $20 bill given to John Glenn for good luck as he prepared himself for the journey into space.

"My daughters held onto some of these items for years," Withrow said. "I even forgot that I had some of them."

She usually gives tours herself walking visitors though presidential ornaments, keys to cities, special currency, commemorative coins and medals and other memorabilia from her time in local, state and federal office.

Having retired in 2001, she said the journey that led her to the federal office wasn't an easy one.

When she secured her first victory, the newspaper at the time did not print her name, instead referring to her as Mrs. Norman Withrow.

She would later be appointed U.S. Treasurer by Bill Clinton and unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

In that role, Withrow oversaw the state quarters project, one of her proudest achievements.

A Delaware, a Pennsylvania and a New Jersey —the first three quarters in the series— sit in a display case inside the museum.

"I miss it," she said on Thursday. "Everyday I felt so grateful to have the job. I told myself at the time there have only been 39 people that had this before you."

Thanks to the October 2, 2018 issue of the Society of Paper Money's News & Notes for the link.

I met Withrow at least once during her tenure as Treasurer. She was quite approachable when visiting numismatic events.

At one of those events (likely the August 1994 ANA convention) I acquired "The Mary Ellen Withrow I.Q. Test Results" T-shirt picturing a $10 Boggs note. The test of course, was whether anyone would actually confuse it with a genuine note. Withrow played along and signed it, attesting that the Treasurer of the United States, whose signature appears on the bills, understood it was not a dangerous counterfeit subject to confiscation. That she even spoke to "Money Artist" Boggs made her Secret Service handlers crazy. It was the U.S. Secret Service that had raided Boggs' studio and confiscated materials they never returned to him despite not filing charges. -Editor

To read the complete article, see:
Withrow museum to open to public on Saturday (https://www.marionstar.com/story/news/local/2018/09/28/withrow-museum-open-public-saturday/1454770002/)