Tag Archives: Battle of Vicksburg

Tomorrow Is National Public Lands Day: Got Plans?

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“This land is your land, this land is my land.” – Woody Guthrie

If you take Woody Guthrie’s famous words literally, you might be interested in National Public Lands Day, which just happens to be tomorrow, Saturday, September 28. Public lands belong to all Americans . . . and just like your own backyard, sometimes these spaces need a little work!

To celebrate National Public Lands Day, volunteers will gather together at sites as varied as state parks, community gardens, beaches, and wildlife preserves to lend a helping hand. You can find a place that’s looking for volunteers in your area by visiting http://www.publiclandsday.org/npld-sites.

This year’s celebration marks the 20th annual National Public Lands Day. In honor of the anniversary, here’s a quick stamp quiz:

Which two 2013 stamps depict places where you can volunteer on September 28th?

Answer: The 1963 March on Washington and The Civil War: 1863

Public Lands DuoThe 1963 March on Washington stamp showcases the National Mall in Washington, D.C. On National Public Lands Day, volunteers will rake leaves, pick up litter, and beautify the area.

One of the two stamps included on depicts the Battle of Vicksburg. Volunteers at Vicksburg National Military Park will plant roses at the historic Shirley House on September 28.

Public lands are perennial stamp subjects. (In 2012, they were shown on the New Mexico Statehood and the Glacier National Park stamps). Pitching in on this special Saturday is a way to keep these lands healthy and beautiful for future generations . . . and for future stamps!

Civil War Stamp Series to Continue in 2013

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We are pleased to announce this morning that our commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War (1861–1865) will continue later this year with the release of the Civil War: 1863 souvenir sheet. The sheet features two stamp designs: the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest battle of the war, and the Battle of Vicksburg, a complex Union campaign to gain control of the Mississippi River.

CivilWar1863-Forever-Block-v2Art director Phil Jordan of Falls Church, Virginia, created the stamps using images of Civil War battles. The Battle of Gettysburg stamp is a reproduction of an 1887 chromolithograph by Thure de Thulstrup (1848–1930), a Swedish-born artist who became an illustrator for Harper’s Weekly after the Civil War. Thulstrup’s work was one of a series of popular prints commissioned in the 1880s by Boston publisher Louis Prang & Co. to commemorate the Civil War.

The Battle of Vicksburg stamp is a reproduction of an 1863 lithograph by Currier & Ives titled “Admiral Porter’s Fleet Running the Rebel Blockade of the Mississippi at Vicksburg, April 16th, 1863.”

The Battle of Gettysburg and Battle of Vicksburg stamps will be issued as Forever® stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

The U.S. Postal Service launched the Civil War stamp series in 2011, and a souvenir sheet of two stamp designs is being issued for each year of the war. The series will continue through 2015.