Special Delivery: Black History Month Stamps
Honoring those who have put their mark on Black culture is what Black History Month is all about!
JETmag.com is taking a look back at some of our culture’s pioneers who have quite literally put their stamp on history. The United States Postal Service began to join in the commemoration of these history makers by creating stamps featuring their images.
These pioneering African Americans are featured in several of the USPS’s stamp collections including Black Heritage, Civil Rights Pioneers, Negro League Baseball, and Distinguished Americans– just to name a few. Ralph Ellison is the most recent addition to this honor beginning in 1940 with Booker T. Washington. Our very own, John H. Johnson, creator of JET Magazine and founder of Johnson Publishing was given this honor in 2012.
Take a look at a few of these culturally-affirming Black History month stamps below:
Name: Ralph Ellison
Issue Date: February 18, 2014
Brief Description: In 1952, Ralph Ellison gave the world the literary classic Invisible Man, for which he earned a National Book Award. The oil on panel painting by notable artist, Kadir Nelson is of the original black and white photographs taken by the late photographer Gordon Parks, who was Ellison’s dear friend. Ellison’s stamp is the 29th induction into the United States Postal Service’s Literary Arts series.