12/23/2008                                                                    Contact: Fred Baumann
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AmeriStamp Expo to Host First Day Event
for Civil Rights Pioneers Issue February 21

The American Philatelic Society has received permission and support from the United States Postal Service to conduct a First Day event for the Civil Rights Pioneers issue during AmeriStamp Expo/Texpex 2009 in Arlington, Texas. The event marking the first day of issue of this six-stamp pane will be held on Saturday, February 21 — the second day of the three-day show at the Arlington Convention Center.

The APS and USPS will produce a first day ceremony program and organize an event to celebrate the release of this historic issue. As the inscription on the pane reads, “The courage of these men and women, / Leaders of the struggle for African-American civil rights, / Energized a movement that spanned generations.”

With the six stamps in the Civil Rights Pioneers, the Postal Service honors the courage, commitment and achievements of 12 civil rights leaders:

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.

Mary White Ovington (1865-1951) This journalist and social worker believed passionately in racial equality and was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

J. R. Clifford(1848-1933) He 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.

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.

Oswald Garrison Villard (1872-1949) A founder of the NAACP, he wrote the “Call” leading to its formation.

Daisy Gatson Bates (1914-1999) She 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.

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.

Walter White (1893-1955) Blue eyes and a fair complexion enabled this leader of the NAACP to make daring undercover investigations.

Medgar Evers (1925-1963) He served with distinction as an NAACP official in Mississippi until his assassination in 1963.

Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) She 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.”

Ella Baker (1903-1986) Her lifetime of activism made her a skillful organizer. She encouraged women and young people to assume positions of leadership in the civil rights movement.

Ruby Hurley (1909-1980) As a courageous and capable official with the NAACP, she did difficult, dangerous work in the South.

Art director Ethel Kessler and stamp designer Greg Berger chose to approach this project through photographic montage. Pairing two pioneers in each stamp was a way of intensifying the montage effect.

Additional information regarding the First Day event at AmeriStamp Expo/Texpex 2009 in Arlington, Texas will be released as details become available. Learn more about the February 20-22 show.

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