Black heritage series: Eight honored men and women

With “a voice heard once in a hundred years,” Marian Anderson was a singer of international renown. The first Africa American to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, she was a pioneer on the concert stage and elsewhere. After being refused to perform in the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall in 1939, she sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to 75,000 people in a concert heard around the world. She was among the most admired and respected women of her times.When Sarah Breedlove began to lose her hair during the 1890s, she prayed to God to help restore her hair. As a result, she discovered a home remedy that actually restored hair, and she developed other hair-care and cosmetic products and began selling them. Later she married C.J. Walker and began calling herself Madam C. J. Walker. Her business grew and eventually she became the first American woman of any race to become a self-made millionaireCarter Godwin Woodson,  the Father of Black History, graduated from Berea College in 1903, obtained his masters from the University of Chicago in 1908 and his PhD from Harvard in 1912. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, (known today as: The Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915 and the Journal of Negro History in 1916. Through his efforts Negro History week was established. He was the moving force and guiding light in making Black Studies a respectable academic pursuit.View the list »
Issued by the US Postal Service, the Black Heritage series recognizes some of the achievements of noteworthy African Americans.

Ethnic Cultures newsletter

The Black Heritage Series offered by the United States Post Office began in 1978 with a stamp honoring Harriet Tubman. The series of postage stamps recognizes the achievements of prominent African Americans, with the most recent addition being the 35th in the Black Heritage series. Legendary civil rights activist, Rosa Parks, is the newest Black Heritage honoree.

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A ceremony celebrating the unveiling of the new stamp is scheduled for Feb.4, on what would have been Parks’ 100th birthday, at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. Another commemorative ceremony will be held on that day the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Each year, the U.S. postmaster general determines a Black Heritage honoree after taking suggestions from the public, according to Roy Betts, a spokesman for the postal service.

Over the last 36 years, the Black Heritage Series has featured outstanding individuals, such as Jackie Robinson, Sojourner Truth, and Mary McLeod Bethune, and others who helped shape American culture through their involvement in science, technology, education, and social action.

According to Carl A. Walton, Greensboro, NC district communications coordinator for the United States Postal Service, “The series was created to ensure the contribution of African-Americans in this country would be represented at least once each year, and it has inspired stamps of great prominence ever since.”

Despite unfounded rumors that the series was to be discontinued, the Black Heritage Series continues to inform and inspire.

From this collection of postage stamps issued in recognition of the achievements of African Americans, take a look at 10 notable men and women.

Information for this list was obtained from The Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections (ESPER), an international stamp society that promotes the collecting of African Americans on stamps and the collecting of stamps by African Americans.

View the list
  • Carter Godwin Woodson,  the Father of Black History, graduated from Berea College in 1903, obtained his masters from the University of Chicago in 1908 and his PhD from Harvard in 1912. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, (known today as: The Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915 and the Journal of Negro History in 1916. Through his efforts Negro History week was established. He was the moving force and guiding light in making Black Studies a respectable academic pursuit.
  • When Sarah Breedlove began to lose her hair during the 1890s, she prayed to God to help restore her hair. As a result, she discovered a home remedy that actually restored hair, and she developed other hair-care and cosmetic products and began selling them. Later she married C.J. Walker and began calling herself Madam C. J. Walker. Her business grew and eventually she became the first American woman of any race to become a self-made millionaire
  • With “a voice heard once in a hundred years,” Marian Anderson was a singer of international renown. The first Africa American to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, she was a pioneer on the concert stage and elsewhere. After being refused to perform in the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall in 1939, she sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to 75,000 people in a concert heard around the world. She was among the most admired and respected women of her times.
  • Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball when he became a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He was voted Rookie of the Year in 1947 and in 1949 he won the National League batting title.  During his career Robinson, played outfield and all three bases.  He was selected on six National League All Star teams between 1949 and 1954 and was a major factor in the Dodgers winning six National League Pennants and was elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1962.
  • Ida B. Wells, a strong adherent of both civil and women's rights, was deeply involved with one of the important issues of the late 1800s, lynching. She became a reporter and part owner of the newspaper Free Speech in 1889 and used the paper as a platform to speak out against lynching.  Later Wells moved to New York and began working for the New York Age as a staff writer. She organized societies against lynching and lectured across the country. She wrote "Lynching and the Excuse for it" in 1901 and her autobiography, Crusade for Justice in 1928.
  • Thurgood Marshall graduated from Howard University Law School in 1933 and from 1936-1940 worked for the NAACP and became chief of its legal staff. He won 29 of the 32 cases that he argued before the Supreme Court, including civil rights case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. This landmark case declared that racial segregation in American public schools was unconstitutional. He was the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
  • Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) — a gifted writer, educator, lawyer, and distinguished author who explored the African American experience and racial relations — is considered the first African-American writers to receive major acclaim. He made an important breakthrough when his short story, “The Goophered Grapevine,” appeared in the August 1887 issue of Atlantic Monthly.Chesnutt was widely known as a major innovator among literary realists who probed the color line in American life. Chesnutt was of mixed racial descent, and provided insight into various perspectives along America’s color line. His writings included short stories, essays, poems, and a biography of Frederick Douglass. His writings were noted for being courageous and insightful.
  • Civil rights activist Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a public bus Montgomery, Alabama led to her arrest. She later commented, "At the time I was arrested, I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in." Her defiant act of courage spurred on a citywide boycott and helped launch nationwide efforts to end segregation of public facilities.
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, Ethnic Cultures Examiner

Having been blessed with a diverse life, Lonnell Johnson has worked as pharmacist, poet, professor, pastor, and publisher, among other careers. He seeks to observe life from a spiritual perspective and enjoys sharing his observations and insight. Check out his blog, Dr.J’s Apothecary Shoppe or...

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