African Americans on US Postage Stamps

 

Booker T Washington postage stampThe US Post Office first honored an African American on a postage stamp on April 7, 1940, when Booker T, Washington was featured on a 10-cent stamp as part of the Famous Americans series of stamps.

In October of that same year, the Post Office issued a 3-cent stamp marking the 75th anniversary of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution.

 

Subject Denomination Date Issued
Booker T. Washington 10¢ April 7, 1940
13th Amendment  3¢ October 20, 1940
Dr. George Washington Carver  3¢ January 5, 1948
Centennial of Booker T. Washington  3¢ April 5, 1956
Emancipation Proclamation  5¢ August 16, 1963
Frederick Douglass 25¢ February 4, 1967
W. C. Handy  6¢ May 17, 1969
Henry Ossawa Tanner  8¢ September 10, 1973
Paul Laurence Dunbar 10¢ May 1, 1975
Salem Poor 10¢ March 25, 1975
Black Heritage: Harriet Tubman 13¢ February 1, 1978
Black Heritage: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 15¢ January 13, 1979
Black Heritage: Benjamin Banneker 15¢ February 15, 1980
Black Heritage: Whitney Moore Young, Jr. 15¢ January 30, 1981
Charles R. Drew, MD 35¢ June 3, 1981
Ralph Bunche 20¢ January 12, 1982
Black Heritage: Jackie Robinson 20¢ August 2, 1982
Black Heritage: Scott Joplin 20¢ June 9, 1983
Black Heritage: Dr. Carter G. Woodson 20¢ February 1, 1984
Black Heritage: Mary McLeod Bethune 22¢ March 5, 1985
Black Heritage: Sojourner Truth 22¢ February 4, 1986
Duke Ellington 22¢ April 29, 1986
Arctic Explorers: Matthew Henson 22¢ May 28, 1986
Black Heritage: Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable 22¢ February 20, 1987
Black Heritage: James Weldon Johnson 22¢ February 2, 1988
Black Heritage: A. Philip Randolph 25¢ February 3, 1989
Black Heritage: Ida B. Wells 25¢ February 1, 1990
Olympians: Jesse Owens 25¢ July 6, 1990
Black Heritage: Jan E. Matzeliger 29¢ September 15, 1991
Black Heritage: W.E.B. DuBois 29¢ January 31, 1992
Black Heritage: Percy Lavon Julian 29¢ January 29, 1993
Legends of American Music, Rock & Roll / Rhythm & Blues: Clyde McPhatter 29¢ June 16, 1993
Legends of American Music, Rock & Roll / Rhythm & Blues: Otis Redding 29¢ June 16, 1993
Legends of American Music, Rock & Roll / Rhythm & Blues: Dinah Washington 29¢ June 16, 1993
Joe Louis 29¢ June 22, 1993
Legends of American Music, Broadway Musicals: Porgy & Bess 29¢ July 14, 1993
Black Heritage: Dr. Allison Davis 29¢ February 1, 1994
Buffalo Soldiers 29¢ April 22, 1994
Legends of American Music, Popular Singers: Nat ‘King’ Cole 29¢ September 1, 1994
Legends of American Music, Popular Singers: Ethel Waters 29¢ September 1, 1994
Legends of American Music, Jazz and Blues Singers: Mildred Bailey 29¢ September 17, 1994
Legends of American Music, Jazz and Blues Singers: Billie Holiday 29¢ September 17, 1994
Legends of American Music, Jazz and Blues Singers: Robert Johnson 29¢ September 17, 1994
Legends of American Music, Jazz and Blues Singers: ‘Ma’ Rainey 29¢ September 17, 1994
Legends of American Music, Jazz and Blues Singers: Jimmy Rushing 29¢ September 17, 1994
Legends of American Music, Jazz and Blues Singers: Bessie Smith 29¢ September 17, 1994
Legends of American Music, Jazz and Blues Singers: Muddy Waters 29¢ September 17, 1994
Legends of American Music, Jazz and Blues Singers: Howlin’ Wolf 29¢ September 17, 1994
Legends of the West: Jim Beckwourth 29¢ October 18, 1994
Legends of the West: Bill Pickett 29¢ October 18, 1994
Black Heritage: Bessie Coleman 32¢ April 27, 1995
Civil War: Frederick Douglass 32¢ June 29, 1995
Civil War: Harriet Tubman 32¢ June 29, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: Louis Armstrong 32¢ September 1, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: Louis Armstrong 32¢ September 16, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: Eubie Blake 32¢ September 16, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: John Coltrane 32¢ September 16, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: Erroll Garner 32¢ September 16, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: Coleman Hawkins 32¢ September 16, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: James P. Johnson 32¢ September 16, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: Charlie Parker 32¢ September 16, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: Charles Mingus 32¢ September 16, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: Thelonious Monk 32¢ September 16, 1995
Legends of American Music, Jazz Musicians: ‘Jelly Roll’ Morton 32¢ September 16, 1995
 Black Heritage: Ernest E. Just 32¢ February 1, 1996
Folk Heroes: John Henry 32¢ July 11, 1996
Legends of American Music, Big Band Leaders: Count Basie 32¢ September 11, 1996
Black Heritage: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. 32¢ January 28, 1997
Holiday Celebrations: Kwanzaa 32¢ October 22, 1997
Black Heritage: Madam C. J. Walker 32¢ January 28, 1998
Celebrate the Century-1900s: W. E. B. DuBois, Social Activist 32¢ February 3, 1998
Celebrate the Century-1910s: George Washington Carver 32¢ February 3, 1998
Celebrate the Century-1920s: Jazz Flourishes 32¢ May 28, 1998
Legends of American Music, Folk Musicians: Leadbelly 32¢ June 26, 1998
Legends of American Music, Folk Musicians: Sonny Terry 32¢ June 26, 1998
Legends of American Music, Folk Musicians: Josh White 32¢ June 26, 1998
Legends of American Music, Gospel Singers: Mahalia Jackson 32¢ July 15, 1998
Legends of American Music, Gospel Singers: Roberta Martin 32¢ July 15, 1998
Legends of American Music, Gospel Singers: Sister Rosetta 32¢ July 15, 1998
Legends of American Music, Gospel Singers: Clara Ward 32¢ July 15, 1998
Celebrate the Century-1930s: Jesse Owens 32¢ September 10, 1998
Black Heritage: Malcolm X 33¢ January 20, 1999
Celebrate the Century-1940s: Jackie Robinson 33¢ February 18, 1999
Celebrate the Century-1950s: Desegregating Public Schools 33¢ May 26, 1999
Celebrate the Century-1960s: “I Have A Dream” 33¢ September 17, 1999
Celebrate the Century-1980s: “The Cosby Show” 33¢ January 12, 2000
Celebrate the Century-1980s: Hip-hop Culture 33¢ January 12, 2000
Black Heritage: Patricia Roberts Harris 33¢ January 27, 2000
Legends of Baseball: Josh Gibson 33¢ July 6, 2000
Legends of Baseball: Satchel Paige 33¢ July 6, 2000
Legends of Baseball: Jackie Robinson 33¢ July 6, 2000
Black Heritage: Roy Wilkins 34¢ January 24, 2001
Holiday Celebrations: Kwanzaa 34¢ October 21, 2001
Black Heritage: Langston Hughes 34¢ February 1, 2002
Masters of American Photography: James VanDerZee 37¢ June 13, 2002
Women in Journalism: Ethel L. Payne 37¢ September 14, 2002
Holiday Celebrations: Kwanzaa 37¢ October 10, 2002
Black Heritage: Thurgood Marshall 37¢ January 7, 2003
Literary Arts: Zora Neale Hurston 37¢ January 24, 2003
Black Heritage: Paul Robeson 37¢ January 20, 2004
American Choreographers: Alvin Ailey 37¢ May 4, 2004
Distinguished Americans: Wilma Rudolph 23¢ July 14, 2004
Literary Arts: James Baldwin 37¢ July 23, 2004
Holiday Celebrations: Kwanzaa 37¢ October 16, 2004
Black Heritage: Marian Anderson 37¢ January 27, 2005
Arthur Ashe 37¢ August 27, 2005
To Form a More Perfect Union: Selma March 37¢ August 30, 2005
To Form a More Perfect Union: Montgomery Bus Boycott 37¢ August 30, 2005
To Form a More Perfect Union: Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit In 37¢ August 30, 2005
To Form a More Perfect Union: Freedom Riders 37¢ August 30, 2005
To Form a More Perfect Union: Little Rock Nine 37¢ August 30, 2005
To Form a More Perfect Union: Civil Rights Act of 1964 37¢ August 30, 2005
To Form a More Perfect Union: Brown v. Board of Education 37¢ August 30, 2005
To Form a More Perfect Union: Executive Order 9981 37¢ August 30, 2005
To Form a More Perfect Union: March on Washington 37¢ August 30, 2005
To Form a More Perfect Union: Voting Rights Act of 1965 37¢ August 30, 2005
Black Heritage: Hattie McDaniel 39¢ January 25, 2006
Sugar Ray Robinson 39¢ April 7, 2006
Distinguished American Diplomats: Clifton R. Wharton Sr. 39¢ May 30, 2006
Baseball Sluggers: Roy Campanella 39¢ July 15, 2006
American Treasures: Gee’s Bend Quilts 39¢ August 24, 2006
Black Heritage: Ella Fitzgerald 39¢ January 10, 2007
Black Heritage: Charles W. Chesnutt 41¢ January 31, 2008
Vintage Black Cinema: The Sport of the Gods 42¢  July 16, 2008
Vintage Black Cinema: Black and Tan 42¢ July 16, 2008
 Vintage Black Cinema: Princess Tam-Tam 42¢ July 16, 2008
Vintage Black Cinema: Caldonia 42¢ July 16, 2008
 Vintage Black Cinema: Hallelujah 42¢ July 16, 2008
Civil Rights Pioneers: Mary Church Terrell and Mary White Ovington  42¢ February 21, 2009
Civil Rights Pioneers: J.R. Clifford and Joel Elias Spingarn 42¢ February 21, 2009
Civil Rights Pioneers: Oswald Garrison Villard and Daisy Gatson Bates 42¢ February 21, 2009
Civil Rights Pioneers: Charles Hamilton Houston and Walter White 42¢ February 21, 2009
Civil Rights Pioneers: Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer 42¢ February 21, 2009
Civil Rights Pioneers: Ella Baker and Ruby Hurley 42¢ February 21, 2009
Richard Wright 61¢ April 9, 2009
Black Heritage: Anna Julia Cooper 44¢ June 11, 2009
Holiday Celebrations: Kwanzaa 44¢ October 9, 2009
Distinguished Sailors: Doris Miller 44¢ February 4, 2010
Black Heritage: Oscar Micheaux 44¢ June 22, 2010
Negro Leagues Baseball: Rube Foster 44¢ July 15, 2010

Looking for stamps for your collection? Be sure to check out Sonora Stamp Shop.

Most of the stamps below were issued as Forever stamps – stamp value indicates what the stamp originally cost.   

 

Latin Music Legends: Celia Cruz (44¢) March 16, 2011
Jazz (44¢) March 26, 2011
Black Heritage: Barbara Jordan (44¢) September 16, 2011
Romare Bearden (four designs) (44¢) September 28, 2011
Holiday Celebrations: Kwanzaa (44¢) October 14, 2011
Black Heritage: John H. Johnson (45¢) January 31, 2012
American Treasures: William H. Johnson (45¢) April 11, 2012
Twentieth-Century Poets: Gwendolyn Brooks (45¢) April 21, 2012
Twentieth-Century Poets: Robert Hayden (45¢) April 21, 2012
Miles Davis (45¢) June 12, 2012
Major League Baseball All-Stars: Larry Doby (45¢) July 20, 2012
Major League Baseball All-Stars: Willie Stargell (45¢) July 20, 2012
Innovative Choreographers: Katherine Dunham (45¢) July 28, 2012
Civil Rights: Emancipation Proclamation (45¢) January 1, 2013
Civil Rights: Rosa Parks (46¢) February 4, 2013
Modern Art in America: Aaron Douglas (46¢) March 7, 2013
Black Heritage: Althea Gibson (46¢) August 23, 2013
Civil Rights: The 1963 March on Washington (46¢) August 23, 2013
Music Icons: Ray Charles (46¢) September 23, 2013
Holiday Celebrations: Kwanzaa (46¢) November 26, 2013
Black Heritage: Shirley Chisholm (46¢) January 31, 2014
Literary Arts: Ralph Ellison (91¢) February 18, 2014
Music Icons: Jimi Hendrix (49¢) March 13, 2014
Distinguished Americans: C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson (70¢) March 13, 2014
Celebrity Chefs: Edna Lewis (49¢) September 26, 2014
Wilt Chamberlain (49¢) December 5, 2014
Black Heritage: Robert Robinson Taylor (49¢) February 12, 2015
Maya Angelou (49¢) April 7, 2015
Black Heritage: Richard Allen (49¢) February 2, 2016
Music Icons: Sarah Vaughan (49¢) March 29, 2016
Holiday Celebrations: Kwanzaa (47¢) October 1, 2016
Black Heritage: Dorothy Height (49¢) February 1, 2017
The Snowy Day (4 designs) (49¢) October 4, 2017
Celebrating African American Heritage and Culture (49¢) October 13, 2017
Black Heritage: Lena Horne (50¢) January 30, 2018
Kwanzaa 2018 (50¢) October 10, 2018
Black Heritage: Gregory Hines (55¢) January 28, 2019