Rosa Parks | USPS Stamp of Approval

For history lovers and stamp fans alike, the year 2013 should be a very special one. By a fortunate coincidence, there are three major civil rights anniversaries this year, each deserving of a stamp:

the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s issuance on January 1, 1863, of the Emancipation Proclamation;
the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rosa Parks on February 4, 1913;
the 50th anniversary of the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963.

The words “Freedom,” “Courage,” and “Equality” appear in large type in the selvage of each respective pane of stamps honoring these civil rights milestones. Throughout 2013, we’re asking you, our readers, to engage in an online discussion of the meaning of these words—freedom, courage, equality—in your own life and in the life of the nation. What does each word mean to you?

On what would have been her 100th birthday, the U.S. Postal Service yesterday issued the during the National Day of Courage celebration at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan.

“Rosa Parks was the epitome of courage. Her single act of defiance changed a nation. Today, her legacy lives on for generations as we bestow upon her one of America’s highest honors,” said Deputy Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman. “Her quiet strength helped to change a nation. Let this stamp be a symbol of her courage and determination. And, let it remind us to never forget the indignities of days gone by—and to never stop fighting for the aspirations of generations yet unborn.”

Joining Stroman to dedicate the stamp were Patricia Mooradian, president, The Henry Ford; Carolyn House Stewart, international president, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; and the Spain School of Excellence Concert Choir. Honored guests were Sen. Carl Levin, Reps. John Conyers and Gary Peters, civil rights activist Julian Bond, and Elaine Eason Steele, co-founder, Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.

The National Day of Courage was established to encourage all American to take a stand and commit themselves to do something courageous just as Parks did Dec. 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus. That singular act of courage helped spark the civil rights movement and a new era in the American quest for freedom and equality.

This First Day Cover bears an affixed stamp and an official First Day of Issue black pictorial postmark from the event in Dearborn. A Detroit version is also available. Click the image for details.

Earlier in the day, a special ceremony was held to preview the Rosa Parks stamp at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. In 1987, Parks co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in Detroit to inspire young people to behave in a socially responsible way.

To obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail, affix the Rosa Parks stamps to envelopes of your choice, address the envelopes (to yourself or others), and place them in larger envelopes addressed to:

Rosa Parks Stamp
Postmaster
1401 W. Fort Street
Detroit, MI 48233-9998

Rosa Parks Stamp
Postmaster
3800 Greenfield Road
Dearborn, MI 48120-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, USPS will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by April 4, 2013.

The is now available in Post Offices nationwide, and can be purchased online or by phone at ().

How has Rosa Parks’s act of courage inspired you?

Today marks the 100th birthday of an extraordinary American activist: Rosa Parks (1913–2005), who became an inspiring, iconic figure of the civil rights movement with one quiet act of courage. We are extremely proud today to issue .

Rosa Parks’s name and image used under license with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development.

The stamp art, by art director Derry Noyes and artist Thomas Blackshear II, is an original portrait of Parks that emphasizes her quiet strength and pleasant persona.

On the evening of Thursday, December 1, 1955, after working all day, Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat on a municipal bus to a white man. Discriminatory laws in effect at that time required black passengers to sit in the rear section of the bus and to surrender their seats to white passengers on demand.

From an early age, Rosa Louise McCauley (her name before her marriage to Raymond Parks) was conscious of the injustice she saw around her. She was educated in a segregated system, attending a rural schoolhouse in Alabama in her early years and eventually receiving her high school diploma shortly after her marriage.

Recalling her early life in My Story (1992), an autobiography intended for young readers, Parks wrote: “At times I felt overwhelmed by all the violence and hatred, but there was nothing to do but keep going.”

After her arrest for refusing to give up her seat, blacks boycotted Montgomery’s bus system. The boycott lasted for 381 days and thrust a young local pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr., into the spotlight.

On November 13, 1956, in a related case, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that segregating Montgomery buses was unconstitutional. The boycott continued for several weeks more until the written order mandating integrated buses arrived. The next day, December 21, more than a year after the boycott began, black citizens began to ride the Montgomery buses again.

The is being issued as a Forever® stamp in sheets of 20 self-adhesive stamps. (Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.) It is the second of three stamps we will issue in 2013 to commemorate landmark anniversaries in civil rights history. Watch as Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman introduces the stamps and gives an inspiring account of the U.S. Postal Service’s long history of offering African Americans opportunities not found elsewhere.

“It’s a story we’re proud to tell,” he says, “and a journey we’re eager to continue, together.”

Fifty-seven years ago this month, Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her seat at the front of the Cleveland Avenue bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The response to her arrest was a boycott of Montgomery’s bus system that lasted 381 days and thrust a young local pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr., into the spotlight.

Parks-Forever-single-v3

In 2013, the U.S. Postal Service will honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rosa Parks, an extraordinary American activist who became an iconic figure in the civil rights movement. The portrait that appears on the stamp (created by Thomas Blackshear II) emphasizes Parks’s quiet determination.

This First Day Cover is available for pre-order. Click image for info.

In addition to this stamp honoring Rosa Parks, USPS will issue two other stamps in 2013 to commemorate significant anniversaries in the struggle for African-American civil rights. One of them celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation; the other has not yet been revealed.

The Rosa Parks stamp will be issued as a Forever® stamp. (Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.) A date of issue has not yet been set, but !

Rosa Parks’s name and image used under license with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development.

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USPS has a tradition of honoring the nation’s civil rights leaders. In 2009, for example, we issued Civil Rights Pioneers, a sheet of 6 stamps celebrating the courage, commitment, and achievements of 12 leaders of the struggle for African-American civil rights. The stamps were issued February 21, 2009, at the NAACP annual meeting in New York City.

Who was the dedicating official?

Send your answer to uspsstamps [at] gmail [dot] com. From those who answer correctly, we will select nine people, at random, to receive the official First Day of Issue ceremony program from the event. (The program includes all 6 cancelled stamps.) A tenth person, also chosen at random, will receive the , a collectible packet that includes background information on the stamp subjects, a timeline, and a souvenir sheet of stamps.

~~The deadline for entries is midnight EST, Thursday, December 6. Winners will be notified by email. Good luck!~~

The correct answer to the contest question is Thurgood Marshall, Jr., member of the USPS Board of Governors. Thank you to everyone who entered. If you didn’t win this time, don’t worry; we’ve got plenty more contests planned for the coming weeks.

USPS Stamp of Approval

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