October is National Stamp Collecting Month

We have to honor Booker T. Washington, the first African American on a U.S. Postage Stamp – April 7, 1940. “Born a slave in Hale’s Ford, Virginia, Washington served as a role model for other struggling African-Americans, and, as founder of Alabama’s Tuskegee Normal Industrial School (renamed Tuskegee Institute in 1937), he profoundly influenced the community’s self-esteem and self-reliance. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, responding to numerous petitions from African-American supporters, recognized the timeliness of such a stamp and directed that Washington be considered for this important stamp series.”

 

Source: https://postalmuseum.si.edu/collections/object-spotlight/btw-stamp.html

In 1956 another stamp was issued in his honor

 

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