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2004
Promises to be a banner year for
African American Related Stamp Issues
6
New Black Heritage issues
Planned for 2004
The 27th stamp in the
Postal
Service’s Black Heritage series will recognize
the
civil-rights
activist and screen and stage actor Paul
Robeson,
(1898-1976).
Richard
Sheaff worked
from a photograph when designing
the
Robeson stamp.
The stamp is planned for late January. January 23 marks
the
28th anniversary
of Paul Robeson’s death from a stroke in 1976.
A
20 stamp pane honoring American Choreographers will be released in May
2004. The Four stamps honor George Balanchine (1904-83), Martha Graham
(1894-1991), Agnes de Mille (1905-93) and Alvin
Ailey
(1931-89).The stamp designs are in gray and black surrounded by a metallic border.
The USPS has stated that the Alvin Ailey stamp will need some minor changes
from the current design. The pane is planned for issue in New York City.
The
20th stamp in the USPS Literary Art Series will honor James
Baldwin,
the
noted author and
playwright. The design by Thomas Blackshear depicts Baldwin
(1924-87) in
the
foreground, along
with an image from one of
Baldwin
’s novels in
the
background.
"James Baldwin" is lettered across
the
top of
the
design in bold,
capital letters. The stamp is scheduled for release on August 2, 2004 in
Harlem
, New York,
where
Baldwin
was born.
The
USPS will release a Sickle
Cell Anemia
stamp
in September 2004. The
Postal Service’s latest stamp promoting social awareness encourages
the
early testing of
children for
the
blood disorder.
The vertical design depicts a woman holding and kissing a child and
includes the text, "Test Early For Sickle Cell."
A
new Kwanzaa
design
is scheduled for release in October 2004. The new design depicts a row
of stylized figures in African dress,
with their robes
flowing like rivers across
the
width of
the
stamp. The first
Kwanzaa stamp, designed by Synthia Saint James, was issued in 1997 as a
32˘ stamp. The same design was used for
the
33˘, 34˘ and 37˘
Kwanzaa stamps of 1999, 2001 and 2002, respectively.
The
fifth stamp in the Distinguished Americans series depicts Wilma
Rudolph, the
track star who
overcame polio and became one of
the
most celebrated
female athletes of her time. During
the
1960 Summer
Olympic Games in
Rome,
Rudolph
(1940-94) became
the
first American
woman to win three gold medals in
the
Olympics. The
USPS stated that the stamp could possibly be issued for the 2004 Summer
Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. |
