Earliest Black Portrayals on U.S. Stamps 1864-1872

A one-frame exhibit by Peter Schwartz

Black Tobacco Worker

Exhibit Synopsis

by Peter Schwartz

My interest in the subject of this exhibit began over 20 years ago after I acquired the set of stamps displayed on the title page, the 1864 American Phototype 2nd issue Cigar Stamps (“Inspectors Stamps”). 1 I was initially intrigued by what appeared to be depictions of Black laborers—men, women, and children—on stamps produced during the Civil War. I thought that if my observation was correct, this imagery would point to a much earlier representation of Black American history than previously thought. Here, the point of reference is the 1940 Booker T. Washington commemorative, long held by collectors as the cornerstone of Black history and heritage depicted on US stamps.

I believed that a key indicator that the workers are Black is the clothing worn by several clearly identifiable female figures — dresses and headwraps typical of female plantation workers of the period. Nevertheless, I realized it would take a more careful study of this imagery to confirm or refute my initial impression (further explained below.)

Years later I learned of several other 19th-century tobacco tax stamps with vignettes depicting Black tobacco workers: several denominations of the 1868 Continental Bank Note Co. Manufactured Tobacco Stamps, and Continental’s 16-ounce Tobacco Strip Stamps of 1869 to 1872.

After discussing my observation about the 1864 stamps with several collectors and dealers, I learned that interest in Black history as reflected in US stamps was essentially confined to 20th-century postage issues, the Booker T. Washington stamp being the landmark example. So I set my sights on forming a complete collection of 19th-century, federally-issued stamps featuring portrayals of Black people. A thorough study of US stamps across all usage types showed that my collection would be confined to taxpaid tobacco stamps, those associated with federal taxation of tobacco products. In short, these taxpaid stamps are the only 19th-century federally-issued stamps that reflect upon Black American history.

Original Research

In 2016, I engaged with Calvin Mitchell, then assistant curator at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, to thoroughly investigate the Black portrayals in all of the stamps in this exhibit. After four years of research, we concluded that the laborers depicted in the 1864 cigar stamps were enslaved Black tobacco workers. The portrayals of tobacco workers in the 1868 and later stamps most likely reflect freemen, as their source artwork can be dated to late 1866/early 1867. Our findings were published in two articles in The American Philatelist. Dates of publication: The American Philatelist (February 2020 and July 2021). This exhibit is the embodiment of that research.

Earliest Black Portrayals Images (2nd page of Row 1).jpg

Row 1: The Title Page displays the 5 denominations of the 1864 Inspectors Stamps and enlarged excerpts of the vignettes highlighting the female figures—five women and a girl. I’ve outlined their profiles in red to make the shapes of their dresses and head coverings stand out. The second page begins with an informational device about tobacco tax stamps that also helps to buffer the drastic stylistic difference between American Phototype’s crudely executed stamps of 1864 and Continental’s finely engraved stamps of 1868. This page focuses on the design of Continental’s ½ pound manufactured tobacco stamp. The left-to-right progression of items tells the story of how the company’s stamp designers modified a stock pictorial vignette, “Loading Cotton,” to make it more appropriate for a tobacco stamp.