Black Stamp Collection

Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother fuck him and John Wayne
Cause I’m Black and I’m proud
I’m ready and hyped plus I’m amped
Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps

Public Enemy – Fight the Power

While putting together the Museum Of UnCut Funk site, I (The Curator-Sista ToFunky) saw an opportunity to bring a hip awareness to collecting stamps. My goal was to bring a funkier vibe while fostering a better understanding of Black history and making it cool for younger generations to collect stamps.

Some may consider stamp collecting to be a waste of time. If you look at most most stamp collecting sites they are boring. They rarely feature stamps that reflect my interests and the sites themselves are not inviting and often too difficult to navigate. But if you are a real collector and want to preserve culturally and historically relevant artifacts then stamps are an inexpensive option.

The Museum of UnCut Funk is proud of it’s USPS Black Heritage stamp collection as well as our other stamps that showcase the contribution of Blacks to US History. I have provided the historical background of a few of my favorites as well as provided a gallery of the entire USPS Black Heritage series below.

2011 USPS Black Stamps

Kwanzaa – A non-religious holiday that takes place over seven days beginning each year on December 26 and ending January 1. Kwanzaa draws on African traditions and takes its name from the phrase for “first fruits” in Swahili, a widely spoken African language. Stamp artist Daniel Minter created a festive and highly symbolic design to illustrate a Kwanzaa holiday celebration.

Romare Bearden – He was one of the 20th century’s most distinguished American artists. Bearden is celebrated for his groundbreaking approach to collage along with his work in watercolors, oils, and other media. His art has also been praised for depicting the Black experience in its full dimensions and is in the permanent collections of major museums across the nation. Art director Derry Noyes chose a different work by Bearden for each of four stamp designs. Bearden’s works included as a part of the USPS stamp sheet are:

• Conjunction – A collage of various fabrics with crayon and charcoal on canvas, is a large work showing a Southern social scene, reflecting Bearden’s recollections of his early childhood in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The work celebrates the human activity of connecting through touch and conversation, and pays homage to the Southern quilt-making tradition suggested by the fabrics of the women’s brightly patterned dresses.
• Odysseus: Poseidon, The Sea God—Enemy of Odysseus (1977) – A collage of various papers with foil, paint, ink, and graphite on fiberboard, is one of many images by Bearden based on literary sources. Poseidon was the archenemy of Odysseus in Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey; his image here combines mythic qualities with multicultural crosscurrents to suggest a larger narrative revealing a deep exploration of the human condition.
• Prevalence of Ritual: Conjur Woman – A collage of various papers with foil, ink, and graphite on cardboard, is one of a series of important collages from 1964. The power and dignity of the black woman was a central theme in Bearden’s art, and the spiritual and mysterious “conjur” woman was a recurring subject. Bearden’s repeated use and reinvention of motifs finds a parallel in the theme and variation of jazz music, which was an important influence on the artist.
• Falling Star - A collage of various papers with paint, ink, and graphite on fiberboard. This image juxtaposes the ordinary, a domestic interior, with the marvelous, as seen through its windows. The falling star is a metaphor with a variety of references in art, literature, and music, and Bearden embraces these multiple meanings for the enrichment they provide to his own art. The process of layering these meanings serves as a metaphor for human experience.

Barbara Jordan – She was one of the most respected and influential American politicians of the 20th century. The portrait featured on the stamp is an oil painting by award-winning artist Albert Slark of Ajax, Ontario, Canada. Slark based his portrait on an undated black-and-white photograph of Jordan.

Jazz Appreciation – America’s musical gift to the world and to the musicians who play it on festival stages as well as in studios, clubs, and concert halls. Art director Howard Paine designed the stamp to showcase the work of Paul Rogers, an artist living in Pasadena, CA. In creating the art for the stamp, originally using ink on paper and then finishing his work digitally, Rogers explored the way images could become a visual equivalent of jazz music. He was inspired by the cover art from vintage jazz record albums—work that captured the music’s improvisational quality while built on a clear understanding of its underlying structure.

2009 USPS Black Stamps

Anna Julia Cooper – She was an educator, scholar, feminist, and activist who gave voice to the Black community during the 19th and 20th centuries, from the end of slavery to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. The stamp features a portrait of Cooper created by Kadir Nelson, who based his painting on an undated photograph. Page 26 and 27 of every new United States passport contains this quote from Cooper:

Richard Wright – He is best remembered for his controversial 1940 novel, Native Son, and his 1945 autobiography, Black Boy. Wright drew on a wide range of literary traditions, including protest writing and detective fiction, to craft unflinching portrayals of racism in American society. The stamp artwork by Kadir Nelson features a portrait of Richard Wright in front of snow-swept tenements on the South Side of Chicago, a scene that recalls the setting of Native Son. Nelson’s portrait of Wright was based on a circa 1945 photograph.

Civil Rights Pioneers – Honors 12 leaders of the struggle for Black civil rights. These visionary men and women energized a movement that spanned generations.

• The portrait of Mary Church Terrell, from the collection of the Library of Congress, was made between 1880 and 1900
• The photograph of Mary White Ovington was taken between 1930 and 1940. It is part of the archival collection from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Library of Congress.
• The image of J. R. Clifford is a detail from a photograph of unknown date from the University of Massachusetts Library Special Collections.
• The portrait of Joel Elias Spingarn is dated in the 1920s and comes from the records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Library of Congress.
• The portrait of Oswald Garrison Villard is undated and comes from the records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Library of Congress.
• The photograph of Daisy Gatson Bates is dated 1957 and is from the New York World-Telegram & Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection at the Library of Congress.
• The portrait of Charles Hamilton Houston is a photograph from the Washington Press dated November 22, 1939. It was obtained from the Library of Congress.
• The portrait of Walter White, dated around 1950, is from the records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Library of Congress.
• The photograph of Medgar Evers is from the Library of Congress.
• The portrait of Fannie Lou Hamer is dated August 24, 1964.
• The portrait of Ella Baker is dated between 1943-46 and is from records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Library of Congress
• The photograph of Ruby Hurley is a newspaper photo from 1963.

Vintage Black Cinema Posters (2008) – These stamps are “vivid reminders of a bygone era, these vintage movie posters highlight various facets of the Black cultural experience as represented in early film.” The featured films are “Black and tan”, “The Sport of the Gods,” “Prinsesse Tam-Tam,” “Caldonia,” and “Hallelujah.”

Quilts of Gee’s Bend (2006) - The rich quilting legacy of four generations of Black women in rural Alabama is celebrated in the Quilts of Gee’s Bend commemorative postage stamps. These stamps are sixth in the American Treasures Series, and feature the ingenuity and improvisational style of the Gee’s Bend quilters.

Jim Beckwourth (1994) – He was a Black pioneer, mountain man, fur trader, and scout, Jim Beckwourth was instrumental in opening the land west of the Sierra Nevada to settlers after the discovery of gold there in 1848. Beckwourth Pass was one of four main routes over the Sierra Nevada and later served as a pathway for railroads and highways. This stamp was designed by Mark Hess.

Buffalo Soldiers (1994) - For more than a hundred years, the role of the Buffalo Soldiers–the U.S. Army’s African American regiment–has been virtually invisible in historical accounts of the period. Although Blacks have fought in American conflicts since before the Revolutionary War, the Buffalo Soldier regiments were the first authorized to serve in the army during peacetime. In 1866, after the Civil War, Congress authorized the creation of six all-black regiments–two cavalry and four infantry. The Buffalo Soldiers often received inferior uniforms, military equipment, and horses, and they routinely confronted extreme discrimination. They could not stay in many of the towns they guarded and were not allowed in the parade field at the same time as the other troops. The Ninth Cavalry was established at Greenville, Louisiana, and the Tenth Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Infantry regiments initially designated as the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, and Forty-first were merged in 1869 into the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantries. These former slaves, veterans of the Civil War, and black freemen distinguished themselves for the next several decades and became some of the most decorated U.S. military regiments of all time. Eighteen black soldiers received the Medal of Honor, and the units had the lowest desertion rate of any army unit from 1867 to 1898. Although there are many theories about how the Buffalo Soldiers won their name, the most enduring suggests that it was given to them by Native Americans because of their bravery and courage on the battlefield. The Buffalo Soldiers accepted the name as a compliment, and the buffalo symbol was included on the regimental crest of the Tenth Cavalry. In addition to fighting in the Indian Wars and the Spanish-American War, Buffalo Soldiers also participated in several other military campaigns, including those during the Philippine insurrection, the Mexican expedition, the two world wars, and the Korean War. They rescued Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War and participated in the pursuit of Pancho Villa in Mexico. This stamp was designed by Mort Künstler.

Bill Pickett (1994) - Born near Taylor, Texas, Bill Pickett is best known for his trademark practice of subduing cattle by biting down on their upper lips. Pickett learned this method after watching a friend’s bulldog bring down cattle by clamping down on the animals’ snouts until they dropped to the ground in pain. The famous Black cowboy turned “bulldogging” into a sport, appearing at rodeos across the country. This stamp was designed by Mark Hess.

Legends of American Music: Jazz Singers Issue (1994):

• Bessie Smith - Known as the “Empress of the Blues,” she reigned over the blues world in the United States and Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. Born into poverty in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Smith began singing in public as a child for pennies. In her teens, she joined vaudeville tent shows and toured with Ma and Pa Rainey. By the early 1920s, Smith had become a blues star with a style all her own. In 1923, her first record, Downhearted Blues, sold an unprecedented 750,000 records. She recorded more than 100 blues and popular songs and paved the way for future jazz musicians and blues singers. This stamp was designed by Howard Koslow.
• Muddy Waters – He was a great American blues musician. He is “the Father of Chicago blues”.”Muddy was a master of just the right notes. It was profound guitar playing, deep and simple. . . . more country blues transposed to the electric guitar, the kind of playing that enhanced the lyrics, gave profundity to the words themselves. Muddy Waters received a large number of awards for his work, among them six Grammy Awards. His songs are included in the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Muddy Waters was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and in 1992 he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. This stamp was designed by Julian Allen.
• Billie Holiday – She was one of the most influential jazz singers in history. Born Eleanora Fagan–she had an art for graceful phrasing and a rough, distinctive voice that allowed her to interpret jazz songs about heartbreak, despair, and loneliness with a buoyancy that rose above the heavy sentimentality of the words. During her career, she recorded with top jazz artists, including Count Basie, Artie Shaw, and Teddy Wilson. In the late 1930s, Billie’s many solo hits, such as God Bless the Child and Strange Fruit, became standard tunes for many generations of singers to follow. This stamp was designed by Howard Koslow.

Jazz Flourishes (1998) – This stamp was a part of the Celebrate The Century Series representing the 1920′s. With a beginning in the early 20th century in African American communities of the U.S. South, Jazz brought together music from both Africa and Europe. The word “jazz” itself was first used to reference music in Chicago about 1915. From its beginning, Jazz incorporated regional styles such as New Orleans’ Dixieland, the big bands of pre-World War II, and Latin Jazz. Because of its variations, which now include international, jazz is very hard to define. This stamp was designed by Carl Herrman and illustrated by Davis Meltzer.

American Music Series: Jazz Musicians Issue (1995) - Ten stamps, designed by Dean Mitchell and Thomas Blackshear, featuring pianists Eubie Blake, Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson, Erroll Garner, and Thelonious Monk; saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane; cornetist Louis Armstrong; and bassist Charles Mingus. The Jazz Musicians stamps were issued as the last addition of 1995 to the Postal Service’s Legends of American Music Stamp series.

Below are images of The Museum of UnCut Funk stamp collection along with their dates of issue.