Featuring Research Volunteer Contributions

American Educators

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10-cent dark brown Booker T. Washington single

The third group in the Famous Americans Series honors five American educators — Horace Mann, Mark Hopkins, Charles W. Eliot, Frances E. Willard, and Booker T. Washington. The issues appeared between March 14 and April 7, 1940. One of only two women celebrated in the series, Frances E. Willard served as the first dean of women of Northwestern University's Women's College. Author Louisa May Alcott was the other woman honored. The American Educators group's overarching design element is the 'Lamp of Knowledge' or 'Lamp of Learning,' an icon also used in 1962 for the 4-cent Higher Education stamp (Scott 1262).

The colors used for each denomination remained constant across all seven groups: 1-cent, green; 2-cent, red; 3-cent, purple; 5-cent, blue; and 10-cent brown. This gave rise to jokes about the USPOD's colorblindness since Mark Hopkins, former president of Williams College, appeared on the red 2-cent stamp and Charles W. Elliot, former Harvard president, appeared on the purple 3-cent. Of course, Harvard's school color is crimson (red), and Williams's school color is purple. Since all seven groups of five stamps were issued in the birth order of their honorees, the colors of these two stamps could not be changed to reflect the schools' colors.

Steven J. Rod

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1-cent Horace Mann single

The 1-cent Famous American Educators stamp, issued March 14, 1940, features Horace Mann (1796-1859). Attracted to politics in his youth, Mann soon focused on improvement of education in America. His belief that every citizen had a right to be educated led him to campaign for universal public education. His political connections enabled him to establish a sound public school system in his native Massachusetts. His works and writings became nationally known and influenced educational development across America.

Gordon T. Trotter

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2-cent Mark Hopkins single

The 2-cent Famous American Educators stamp, issued March 14, 1940, features Mark Hopkins (1802-1887). President of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, from 1836 to 1872 and professor of intellectual and moral philosophy until his death, he was renowned as a teacher and administrator. He was ordained in the Congregational Church in 1836, preached frequently, and was president of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1857–1887).

Gordon T. Trotter

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Charles W. Eliot (1834-1926) appears on the 3-cent Famous American Educators stamp, issued March 28, 1940. Following in-depth study of European educational systems, Eliot published his ideas for realigning American education with the demands of the industrial age. Eliot served as president of Harvard from 1869 to 1909 and is credited with elevating the University to the uppermost level of education in America.

Gordon T. Trotter

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5-cent ultramarine Frances E. Willard single

The 5-cent Famous American Educators stamp, issued March 28, 1940, features renowned educator Frances E. Willard (1839-1898). Willard served as president of Evanston College for Ladies and later as dean of women at Northwestern University. She abandoned her career in education at its peak to take up the causes of temperance and women's suffrage, becoming president of the national and then the worldwide Women's Christian Temperance Union.

In this position of national and international leadership, Willard actively promoted not only temperance but other reforms, including the kindergarten movement and federally-funded vocational training for teachers.

Gordon T. Trotter

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10-cent dark brown Booker T. Washington single

The first U.S. stamp to depict an African-American, the 10-cent Famous American Educators issue features Booker T. Washington (1856-1915). The stamp was released on April 7, 1940.

Born a slave, Washington was mentored in the years following the Civil War by sympathetic and influential whites. He pursued his education earnestly, adopting his mentors' beliefs that education of freed slaves was the key to adjustment to free society. When in 1888 the state of Alabama established the Tuskegee Negro Normal Institute, Washington was appointed principal. By following conservative educational policies and stressing practical, job-related skills, he attracted significant funding from wealthy whites and built the school into an esteemed institution.

Gordon T. Trotter

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