Founded 1988
" An International Stamp Society, honoring the African Diaspora and African Americans on stamps"
Our 36th Year
ESPER Members attending Ceremony
On Friday, July 21, I had the pleasure to attend the John Lewis First-Day-of-Issue ceremony in Atlanta, Georgia, on the campus of Morehouse College.
Over the years, I’ve attended numerous ceremonies; they include Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and Maya Angelou just to name a few. The John Lewis ceremony was very special because I met him 2013 in D.C. at the 50th anniversary for the March on Washington celebration and stamp issued for its anniversary. He autographed my ceremony program. It was very special because I never met anyone who was honored on a stamp.
A lot of my ESPER members were also at his ceremony. They came from all over the east coast, included New York, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Illinois. The ceremony was so uplifting and spiritual. I felt like we were in church sometimes. This type of ceremony was very fitting for Congressman John Lewis. Clarence McKnight
(Click on first picture to enlarge and see all the pictures)
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“Whenever a new forever stamp came out, he was like a kid in a candy store, purchasing more than he could ever use. There were so many stamps. He loved too many to count. Generations of his staff in both the district and DC offices could tell you about the countless trips to every post office. From Atlanta to the house office building to buy stamps and post his mail,” Collins said.
"THE BIG SIX"
L-R: John Lewis, Whitney Young, Jr., A. Philip Randolph, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, and Roy Wilkins pose behind a banquet table on July 2, 1963, at the Hotel Roosevelt as they meet to formulate plans for the March on Washington.
"Five of the BIG SIX are on stamps"
John Lewis Special Page