Feb 25, 2009 5:40 pm US/Eastern
USPS Unveils Black History Month Stamps
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
-
-
The U.S. Postal Service is putting its stamp on Black History Month.
CBS
The U.S. Postal Service is putting its stamp on Black History Month.
Sally Thorner reports the Civil Rights Pioneers stamp honors 12 different leaders of the movement for their courage, commitment and achievements.
"The last generation the Postal Service has made a great effort to recognize deserving Americans," said David Taft Terry. "Those debuted today are no exception."
There are actually six new stamps that pair the civil rights pioneers in photographic montage: Medgar Evers and Fannie Hamer; Ella Baker and Ruby Hurley; Mary Terrell and Mary Ovington; J.R. Clifford and Joel Spingarn; Oswald Villard and Daisy Gatson Bates and Charles Houston and Walter White.
Chances are you'll know some but not all of the civil rights leaders.
That's why the Postal Service chose the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History for the unveiling. The hope is these stamps will deliver you here to learn their backstories.
Wednesday's keynote speaker was University of Maryland professor Sherrilyn Ifill. The law professor and civil rights expert approves of all of the selections for the new stamps and agrees with the label of "pioneers."
"They have a sense of destiny, a feeling that now is the time. They have what Martin Luther King and now our president call the fierce urgency of now," she said.
But Ifill confesses to having a favorite in the lineup--Fannie Lou Hamer.
"She is worthy of acknowledgement this year because without her efforts, Barack Obama would not be possible," she said.
The ceremony was attended by students at Dunbar Middle School.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Winter Storm Hits Maryland, Part 3
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments