February 1, 1978: Antislavery crusader and Civil War veteran
Harriet Tubman become the first African American woman to
appear on a U.S. postage stamp, the first in the Post Office’s
Black Heritage Series. Tubman’s appearance on stamps was
emblematic both of the progress made in recognizing African
Americans’ contributions to American history and of the
ongoing effort to put abolitionists on equal footing with
slaveowners in the nation’s historical canon.

Harriet Tubman
(born Araminta Ross, c.
(March 1822 – March 10, 1913)

The Mayflower sails from Plymouth, England, bound for the New World with
102 passengers. The ship was headed for Virginia, where the colonists–half religious dissenters and half entrepreneurs–had been authorized to settle by
the British crown. However, stormy weather and navigational errors forced
the Mayflower off course, and on November 21 the “Pilgrims” reached Massachusetts, where they built the first permanent European settlement
in New England in late December.

Depiction of the signing of a document that today is called the
Mayflower Compact. It was signed by 41 of the Pilgrim men and
John Carver was elected as the first governor of the colony.

John Carver (before 1584–1621)

On this day in 1775, the U.S. postal system is established by the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster
general. Franklin (1706-1790) put in place the foundation for many
aspects of today’s mail system.

The United States Postal Service announced that it is issuing a new commemorative stamp honoring the late President George H. W. Bush.

The stamp, which is now available for pre-order, will be available for
delivery following a first-day-of-issue ceremony, which will be held on
Bush’s birthday, June 12, at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library
and Museum (shown below). Bush died November 30, 2018 at the age
of 94.

The United States Post Office Department issued a stamp honoring African-
American educator Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) as part of its Famous
Americans Series. The nation’s first stamp to honor an African-American, it
holds a unique place in American history.

Born a slave in Hale’s Ford, Virginia, Washington served as a role model for
other struggling African-Americans, and, as founder of Alabama’s Tuskegee
Normal Industrial School (renamed Tuskegee Institute in 1937), he profoundly
influenced the community’s self-esteem and self-reliance.

In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, responding to numerous petitions
from African-American supporters, recognized the timeliness of such a stamp
and directed that Washington be considered for this important stamp series.

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