NAACP Continues 100th Anniversary Celebration with Release of Civil Rights Pioneer Stamps
December 31, 1969New York City.
The Civil Rights Pioneers stamp sheet, bearing six 42-cent first-class commemorative stamps, are available nationwide. They were dedicated by U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors member Thurgood Marshall Jr., son of the famed NAACP General Counsel.
Marshall was joined in dedicating the stamps by Medgar Evers’ widow and NAACP Chairman Emerita, Myrlie Evers-Williams, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP National Board of Directors Chairman Julian Bond andHarvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. who is also a member of the Postmaster General’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee.
“These stamps will serve as consistent reminder of the diversity, strength, courage and determination the NAACP and its members have demonstrated through time to make the promise of America real for everyone,” said Jealous.
The stamps honor the achievements of Ella Baker, Daisy Gatson Bates, J.R. Clifford, Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, Charles Hamilton Houston, Ruby Hurley, Mary White Ovington, Joel Elias Spingarn, Mary Church Terrell, Oswald Garrison Villard and Walter White—all of which served as NAACP founders or organization leaders.
“I am very pleased that the United States Postal Service has issued this stamp commemorating civil rights pioneers at this moment in time--just at the NAACP celebrates its historic 100th anniversary,” said Evers-Williams. ”Those of us who have made a lifetime commitment to the NAACP realize the challenges and sacrifices faced by these pioneers and their tremendous dedication to the cause of justice. As we move forward to celebrate the future, we must not let younger generations forget these champions who paved the way for the advancements that we enjoy today. I am deeply honored that Medgar Evers has been chosen to be immortalized with this select group of heroic legends.”
Art director Ethel Kessler and stamp designer Greg Berger, both
of Bethesda, MD, chose to approach this project through
photographic montage. Pairing two pioneers in each stamp was a way
of intensifying the montage effect. The selvage image, or area
outside of the stamps, is an illustration by Greg Berger showing
participants in a march.
To learn more about the stamp honorees or to obtain a set, log on
to: naacp.org or usps.gov.
Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954)
Throughout her long life as a writer, activist, and lecturer, she
was a powerful advocate for racial justice and women’s rights in
America and abroad. The portrait of Mary Church Terrell, from the
collection of the Library of Congress, was made between 1880 and
1900.
Mary White Ovington (1865-1951)
This journalist and social worker believed passionately in racial
equality and was a founder of the NAACP. The photograph of Mary
White Ovington was taken between 1930 and 1940. It is part of the
NAACP archival collection at the Library of Congress.
J.R. Clifford (1848-1933)
Clifford was the first black attorney licensed in West Virginia. In
two landmark cases before his state’s Supreme Court, he attacked
racial discrimination in education. The image of J.R. Clifford is a
detail from an undated photograph from the University of
Massachusetts Library Special Collections.
Joel Elias Spingarn (1875-1939)
Because coverage of blacks in the media tended to be negative, he
endowed the prestigious Spingarn Medal, awarded annually since
1915, to highlight black achievement. The portrait of Joel Elias
Spingarn is dated in the 1920s and comes from the records of NAACP
at the Library of Congress.
Oswald Garrison Villard (1872-1949)
Villard was one of the founders of the NAACP and wrote “The “Call”
leading to its formation. His undated portrait comes from the
records of the NAACP at the Library of Congress.
Daisy Gatson Bates (1914-1999)
Bates mentored nine black students who enrolled at all-white
Central High School in Little Rock, AR, in 1957. The students used
her home as an organizational hub. The 1957 photograph of Bates is
from the New York World-Telegram & Sun Newspaper
photographic collection at the Library of Congress.
Charles Hamilton Houston
(1895-1950)
This lawyer and educator was a main architect of the civil rights
movement. He believed in using laws to better the lives of
underprivileged citizens. Houston’s portrait is a Nov. 22, 1939,
photograph from the Washington Press obtained from the
Library of Congress.
Walter White (1893-1955)
Blue eyes and a fair complexion enabled this leader of the NAACP to
make daring undercover investigations. The portrait of Walter
White, dated around 1950, is from the records of the NAACP at the
Library of Congress.
Medgar Evers (1925-1963)
Evers served with
distinction as an official of the NAACP in Mississippi until his
assassination in 1963. The photograph of Evers is from the Library
of Congress.
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977)
Hamer was a Mississippi sharecropper who fought for black voting
rights and spoke for many when she said, “I’m sick and tired of
being sick and tired.” Her portrait is dated Aug. 24, 1964.
Ella Baker (1903-1986)
Baker’s lifetime of activism made her a skillful organizer. She
encouraged women and young people to assume positions of leadership
in the civil rights movement. The portrait of Ella Baker is dated
between 1943 and 1946 and is from NAACP records at the Library of
Congress.
Ruby Hurley (1909-1980)
As a courageous and capable official with the NAACP, she did
difficult, dangerous work in the South. Hurley’s image is from a
1963 newspaper photo.
Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its more than half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities and monitors of equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
