"In God We Trust"

This is an Arkansas Memory Project by Aaron Martin martina@asms1x.dsc.k12.ar.us at the
Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences located in Hot Springs, AR.

The suggestion to include In God We Trust on our currency was presented to the Secretary of the Treasury, George W. Humphrey, in November 1953 by Matthew H. Rothert of Camden, Arkansas. Mr. Rothert's idea came to him a few months earlier while attending church one Sunday morning in Chicago. As the collection plate was being passed, it occurred to him that only the coins in the plate had this motto. He then thought that since our paper money has a much wider circulation abroad that our coins, a message about this country's faith in God could be easily carried throughout the world if it were on United States currency. Secretary Humphrey favored the idea, but he felt that congressional sanction was desirable. In March 1955, through Mr. Rothert's efforts Senator Fulbright of Arkansas introduced the bill into the Senate. Congressmen Bennett of Florida and Harris of Arkansas introduced the bill into the House of Representatives.

The bill H R 619 was approved by President Eisenhower on July 11, 1955 and specified "... that at such time as new dies for the printing of currency are adopted in connection with the current program of the Treasury Department to increase the capacity of presses utilized by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the dies shall bear, at such place or places thereon as Secretary of the Treasury may determine to be appropriate, the inscription "In God We Trust", and thereafter this inscription shall appear on all United States currency and coins."

Rothert wrote many letters about the addition of the motto to the paper currency. Among these were letters to the Arkansas Gazette and to President Eisenhower. Not only did Rothert send letters, but he also recieved many of them. Some of the letters he recieved were letters of support form various poeple and organizations. He recieved a letter from The Christain Herald Magazine, stationed in New York, showing their support. Rothert also recived support from Senator Fulbright.

An eight cent stamp was made at the request of thousands who urged the Post Office Department to issue a regular stamp with a religious sentiment. Newspaper articles also poped up about the new addition to the paper currency. Such titles were...

"Camden Man Asks Treasury to Put Religious Motto on Bills",

"Almight Dollar Mentions God Because of Arkansan",

"Matt Rothert: The Man Who Put the Motto on Our Money",

"The Man Who Put God's Trust in Your Pocket!",

"Camden Man 'Top Dollar' in coin show", and

"Camden Man Puts God on Dollar Bill".

Matthew Rothert found out from a Western Union Telegram sent to him that word had come from Senator Fulbright that the Senate passed bill H R 619 "In God We Trust" to be on all coins and currency.

A more indepth discusion of the story of events that lead to the placement of the motto "In God We Trust" on the United States paper currency has been provided at the following location:

"In God We Trust" on Our Currency.

Here are some links that are related or relevant:

History of U.S. Paper Money -- http://very.simplenet.com/currency/rhist.htm

The U.S. Mint -- http://www.usmint.gov/

Numismatic Dealer Directory -- http://www.greysheet.com/numdd.html

Group Opposed to "In God We Trust" Loses Appeal -- http://www.usatoday.com/news/court/nscot201.htm

Teachers, a curriculum page on the topic "In God We Trust" has been created and can be found here.

[Main] [Mattew Rothert][Bill H R 619] [Letter to Arkansas Gazette] [Letter to Fulbright] [Letter to Herald] [Letter to Eishenhower] [Newspaper1] [Newspaper2] [Newspaper3] [Newspaper4] [Newspaper5] [Newspaper 6] [Stamp] [Telegram] [Indepth] [Works Cited] [Table of Contents]