African Americans in the Postal Service and Philately

Topical Reference Page
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37c Alvin Ailey and Dancers stamp, 2004

The National Postal Museum celebrates African American history by providing online resources about the role of African Americans in the postal service and philately.

Exhibition

African Americans on Postage Stamps
Since the founding of the United States, African Americans have played a pivotal role in the shaping of American history and heritage. Their contributions to America have included the fields highlighted by the 1940 Famous Americans and many more. This virtual exhibition showcases the black experience in the United States through the lens of American postage stamps.

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Exhibition

When there were no academic journals to counter racist scholarship, Dr. Carter G. Woodson created one. When no professional presses would accept materials about African Americans, he founded one. Former Smithsonian Fellow Kimberly D. Brown explores Woodson and the origins of Black History Month. Adapted from the National Museum of American History Blog.

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This article explores the unique history and experience of African Americans in America’s Postal Service, illustrating that the United States Postal Service has been both a place where African Americans were discriminated against, and a place where many African Americans found opportunities for advancement.
First Colored World Series Opening Game, Kansas City, Missouri, October 11, 1924 featuring players with fans in the background
Exhibition
By 1890 Black players were excluded from professional baseball by agreement among White team owners. African Americans and Latino Americans instead found playing opportunities in the various Negro Leagues, as well as in Mexico, Cuba, and the Caribbean.
Exhibition

One of America's Greatest Civil Rights Pioneers
By the time Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the United States Supreme Court on June 13, 1967, he had already made his mark on the “highest court in the land.”

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Related Blogs

African American Troops in World War I: A Military Experience Based on Separate and Unequal Treatment

Despite concerns about racial discrimination in America, African Americans’ enthusiasm for supporting America’s entry in World War I was quite high in 1917. W.E.B Du Bois, one of the leading African American intellectuals of this period, rallied...

Open Through Feb. 15, 2016: "Freedom Just Around the Corner: Black America from Civil War to Civil Rights"

“Freedom Just Around the Corner: Black America from Civil War to Civil Rights” opened February 12 at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. The museum’s first exhibition devoted entirely to African American history marks 150 years since the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery throughout the United States. The exhibition, open through Feb. 15, 2016, chronicles the African American experience through the perspective of stamps and mail.

Col. Noel Parrish: Tuskegee Commander

In December 1942 Lt. Col. Noel Parrish assumed command of the Tuskegee Army Airfield (TAAF) and during the next four years, TAAF produced some of the nation’s finest and celebrated servicemen, the Tuskegee Airmen. As the white commander of a predominantly African American military installation, Lt. Col. Parrish faced both local white citizens who were not supportive of the facility or its mission, and some white senior military and political leaders who believed that African Americans were intellectually incapable of flying combat aircraft.

First-Day Ceremony: Emancipation Proclamation Commemorative Forever Stamp

On January 1, 2013 at 9:00 A.M. the United States Postal Service (USPS) held the first- day ceremony for the Emancipation Proclamation commemorative forever stamp in the magnificent Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives.