The U.S. Postal Service has issued what has become an almost annual statement denying that it plans to stop issuing Black Heritage stamps.
A news release from Los Angeles Postmaster James A. Smith, which appears to have been made available to every postmaster in the nation, emphasizes: “The Postal Service’s Black Heritage stamps have been around since 1978 and they’re one of the Postal Service’s most popular commemorative stamp series.�
Ella Fitzgerald was last year’s honoree, and the USPS printed 150 million stamps with a face value of $58.5 million, the release says.
The first U.S. postage stamp featuring an African American showed Booker T. Washington in 1940, and more than 100 stamps with African-American subjects have been issued since. The Black Heritage series began in 1978, and a stamp has been issued for it every year since.
No one knows where, or why, the rumors that the Black Heritage series is being discontinued starts, the release notes, but adds strongly:
“The rumors are not true. It’s hard to say why they keep popping up, but the speed with which rumors can be spread on the Internet is a factor. The myth started several years ago through an anonymous e-mail that told the recipients to buy Black Heritage stamps before post offices stopped selling them due to lack of demand. Unfortunately, the rumors still resurface shortly before a Black Heritage stamp is issue. We have no problems selling out of the Black Heritage stamps. Our challenge is keeping them available to meet the demand!�
A list of all the U.S. stamps with African-American themes can be found here. Type “Black Heritage� into the search box.
A display about stamp collecting at the main Oxnard Library includes all the Black Heritage stamps issued through last year. The display will be up through Oct. 31.
The display also publicizes the 17th annual Youth Stamp Fair sponsored by the Ventura County Philatelic Society, the Anacapa Middle School Stamp Club and The Star in Education Foundation. The free event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Dudley House, Loma Vista Road and Ashwood Avenue, Ventura.
It will have lots of free stamps for young collectors, demonstrations of collecting techniques and tools, games, contests and door prizes.
In the interests of full disclosure, I should add that I chair the event and advise the Anacapa stamp club.