National Museum of African Americans on Stamps
Keeper of the Past and Promise of our People
Thank you for visiting our page. Obviously you appreciate stamps and more specifically, African Americans on Stamps. After browsing our page please take the time to visit:
ESPER – Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections
African Americans in the Postal Service and Philately
Cultural Charisma has committed to making an annual donation to NMAAS. Please visit their
Read about Ida B. Wells and Ethel L. Payne
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/the-black-experience/prominent-journalists
Like so many others we started off with online presentations to stay in touch with our philately phriends and expanded our reach to support other cultural organizations.
February 22-23 – We participated as an advocate at the Museum Advocacy Days events and had the opportunity to join congressional members to voice our support for funding.
February 23 – We gave a presentation on African American Women on U.S. Stamps for the American Topical Association
February 25 – We joined a Wells Fargo Employee Resource Group and gave an overview about NMAAS and the history of African Americans on U.S. Stamps.
February 26 – We gave a presentation on African American Women on U.S. Stamps for FNL w/Kat Carter
March 9 – We gave a presentation on African American Women on U.S. Stamps for the American Philatelic Society. Catch the replay in the Stamp Chat section
Visit https://www.esperstamps.org/john-lewis for more information
John Robert Lewis was known as the “conscience of the U.S. Congress.” John was the son of sharecroppers, born in Troy, Alabama, in 1940. As a young boy, he knew that he was going to get in “good trouble.” It was a large part of his character. He knew that he had to make a difference for equal rights. He received a BA degree from American Baptist Theological Seminary and a BA from Fisk University. He held over 50 honorary degrees. He was one of the youngest speakers at the March on Washington over 50 years ago and was also one of the lieutenants of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. John Lewis led the voting rights march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. We refer to this march as “Bloody Sunday.”
The Forever stamp will be part of the USPS’s Black Heritage series, honoring people whose work contributed to arts and culture in the Black community. Wilson’s stamp will be the 44th in the series. The stamp will be dedicated on January 28, 2021, during a ceremony that will be streamed on Facebook and Twitter.
Wilson was was born Frederick August Kittel, Jr. in 1945 in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the fourth of six children. During his lifetime, he experienced and observed racial injustice, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Black Power movement. He also witnessed the destruction of the Lower Hill and the uprooting of more than 10,000 people to build the Civic Arena, now demolished.
As an artist, Wilson’s work chronicled the experience of living as an African American. Among the many awards won by Wilson were two Pulitzer Prizes, for Fences and The Piano Lesson. All but one of the 10 plays in his American Century Cycle are set in Pittsburgh. He died in 2005.
Mr. Severe accumulated a collection of over 50,000 first day covers. He has donated to several cultural organizations over the years. We are thankful for being selected for a gift. We donated uncancelled post cards and pencils to a group organizing a Black History Month event.
If you have a moment you can vote at aps.buzz/APSChattys
The American Philatelic Society (APS – www.stamps.org ) nominated us for a Chatty Award to recognize our presentation on African Americans on Stamps on an APS Stamp Chat during 2020. #RecognitionAppreciated #RepresentationMatters #InternationallyKnown
This 2021 calendar is available at www.esperstamps.org. Each month is filled with interesting black history/heritage facts.
