Putting our stamp on history: more than 60 legends honored by Postal Service - African Americans - Brief Article - Illustration

Ebony, Nov, 1997

SINCE Booker T. Washington appeared on a 10-cents stamp in 1940, the U.S. Postal Service has honored more than 60 African-American legends. Of the honorees, many of whom are recognized for contributions in several areas, 26--almost half--are musicians, 11 are scholars, scientists and inventors, and 7 are associated primarily with the Black freedom struggle.

The list includes only three sports figures (Joe Louis, Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson), two professional poets and writers (James Weldon Johnson and Paul Laurence Dunbar) and one artist (Henry Ossawa Tanner). Of the 10 women listed, five are musicians. In addition to spotlighting the Blacks who shaped this country, the stamps present different aspects of Black culture--from folk heroes like John Henry to Kwanzaa. Two persons--Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman--have appeared on two stamps.