Background

On Sunday April 7, 1940, the United States Post Office Department issued the first stamp honoring an African American. The Famous American stamp for Booker Taliaferro Washington was issued at Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama, which Washington had led from insignificance to national prominence. For Booker T. Washington to be the first African American so honored was a popular choice.

It was an event whose time had come. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President in 1932, he received overwhelming support from African American voters, who deserted the Republican party, "the Party of Lincoln," for the first time.

Ever since he was inaugurated in 1933, Roosevelt and officers in the Post Office Department had received letters and petitions from individuals and organizations requesting that the progress of African Americans since emancipation be recognized with a commemorative stamp.¹ Postmaster General James A. Farley and his assistants responded favorably but noncommittally to these early letters, replying that such an idea was under consideration but no specific plans were made. Among these letters, the name of Booker T. Washington was most often mentioned as the citizen to be first honored. His life story, from being born in slavery to becoming a leading figure in education and social change, was well known by most Americans. The advance of Tuskegee Institute was the model on which advances of other African American institutions were measured. Its dramatic growth under Washington’s direction from an insignificant center in 1881 to a large campus, staff, and student body by his death in 1915, and subsequently, was known and admired by most Americans. Although some rightly noted that the education curriculum of Tuskegee Institute was limited to job careers in service, others considered it a step forward.

When Roosevelt became President in 1933, the United States was still in the midst of its worst depression. Even though unemployment was slowly decreasing and citizens were becoming more optimistic about their future, the plight of African Americans was still very difficult in a country where racial bias existed across the nation and the "Jim Crow" laws of the South were fully in operation.

After Roosevelt’s re-election in 1936, he was better able to consider the proposals of the letters of petition. As an ardent philatelist himself, he took a strong interest in all U.S. stamp issues, recognizing their importance in promoting and presenting ideas. Thus, in 1938, Roosevelt reacted formally to an idea proposed earlier by Michael Eidsness, the first head of the Philatelic Agency, of issuing a series of stamps honoring famous Americans. When the announcement of such a series of stamps was made in the press, letters proposing Booker T. Washington as one of these famous Americans increased.

In early 1939, the Post Office Department released the list of famous Americans to be honored. Booker T. Washington was on the list. The date and place of issue was yet to be decided.

Letters to the Post Office Department were received suggesting Hampton Institute, where young Washington, recently emancipated, received his education, and Charleston, WV, near the farm where he was born in slavery in 1856. Other letters suggested Philadelphia and other large eastern and mid-western industrial centers where African Americans had recently migrated in large numbers seeking financial and personal security. There were also many petitions requesting that Tuskegee Institute be the site of the stamp issue.

In October 1939 Tuskegee Institute was selected. The date chosen was to coincide with Founder’s Day, April 7, 1940. It would be an important celebration with the Postmaster General attending and with national participation.

The Petitioners

Of all the writers requesting a stamp commemorating the advance of African Americans from emancipation, Major Robert Richard Wright Sr. of Philadelphia was the most ardent. He had begun his campaign immediately after President Roosevelt’s inauguration in 1933. Through the years of Roosevelt’s first two terms he visited and wrote to Postmaster General James A. Farley and his assistants Clinton Eilenberger, Ramsey Black and Roy North to tell them about his petition. Wright was President of the Citizens and Southern Bank and Trust Company, the largest bank in America operated by an African American.

When the Booker T. Washington stamp was announced in the press, Wright wrote two letters to Post Office Department officials, both dated July 20, 1939. In one to Roy North, he recalled his many letters petitioning such a stamp. He mentioned his visit to Postmaster General Farley with a "Resolution of the Lower House of the Pennsylvania Legislature beseeching him to issue the stamp."² In his letter to Ramsey S. Black, Wright noted that the Washington stamp "comes pretty nearly within the limit of seventy-five years of Negro Emancipation and Progress…hence it is extremely timely."³

The first letter asking for a stamp for Booker T. Washington, dated October 9, 1933, was from B. F. Thornett of Ballston, VA.⁴ The reply from Clinton B. Eilenberger stated "it may be possible to issue a stamp of this character at some later date."

Among others who wrote about a Washington stamp was Arthur Howes, President of the Hampton Institute, Hampton, VA, who recalled Washington’s years at Hampton from whence he was recommended to become the director of the fledgling Tuskegee Institute in 1881.⁵ Another writer was the President of the Sphinx Stamp Club, Charleston, WV, who noted that Washington’s birthplace was nearby.⁶

F. D. Patterson, President of Tuskegee Institute wrote asking that Tuskegee be chosen as the site of the issue of the Washington stamp.⁷ Shortly thereafter, the Post Office announced its choice of Tuskegee.

Once the Post Office Department announced its choice of Tuskegee Institute, various organizations asked whether they could share in this important event. On November 8, 1939, the Postmaster of Mound Bayou, Miss. wrote on behalf of the Educational Center for African American Youth that had been founded by Isiah T. Montgomery, a freed slave. ⁸ His petition was supported by a November 21, 1939 letter from Mississippi Senator Theodore G. Bilbo, whose own record as an ardent segregationist was not surpassed by any other U.S. Senator. ⁹ In his letter to Senator Bilbo, Roy North stated that his request for a "second day" ceremony (not what Senator Bilbo had requested,)"will be given our very best consideration."(There is no further information in the Post Office files or elsewhere that a second day ceremony took place at Mound Bayou, Miss.)

A "75 Years of Negro Progress Exposition" was planned for May 1940 in Detroit, Michigan. Executive Director Eddie Tolan wrote the first of a number of letters to Postmaster General Farley in October 26, 1939 asking whether Washington stamps, drawings, engravings, and other items could be submitted for a special display at the exposition. ¹⁰ In his November 6, 1939 reply, Roy North wrote that since the date of issue of the Washington stamp had not yet been chosen, he could not necessarily comply, but that "arrangements will be made to have stamps on sale in your city on the second day." Further, no promise could be made about any special presentation at the Expo. (As will be seen later, the Post Office Department did send a special exhibit including material about the Washington stamp accompanied by a Post Office representative.)

On November 3, 1939, The Young Women’s Christian Association, West 137^th Street Branch, New York City, requested a supply of "first issue stamps" of the Washington stamp. ¹¹ In his reply Ramsey Black stated, "it will, in all probability be available at the New York City Post Office on the following day or shortly thereafter (of the first day at Tuskegee Institute)." (As will be seen later, New York City Postmaster Albert Goldman arranged a special second day ceremony for the Washington stamp on April 8, 1940 at the Post Office Branch on 140^th Street).

A "Last Minute" Change

When the names of the 35 chosen Famous Americans were first announced, each of the seven categories had five member, and the denominations of the stamps for each category were: 1c, 1½ c, 2c, 3c, and 5c. In the Educator Group, the Booker T. Washington stamp was given the 3c denomination. ¹² Shortly thereafter, the denominations were changed to: 1c, 2c, 3c, 5c, and 10c with the Washington stamp listed as the 10c issue.

Major R.R. Wright, Sr. immediately wrote to the Post Office Department, expressing his strong objection to the Washington having the 10c denomination. ¹³ "I do not know what our group can do with a ten cent stamp, when they are of one cent prosperity, and fifty-hundredths in business progress."

Wright asked that the Horace Mann stamp (1c denomination) and the Washington stamp be reversed. In his reply, Ramsey Black gave the reason for the change. It was decided that the fractional value (1½c) be dropped because it was "not adaptable for use on first class mail." A 4c denomination was not chosen because its postal use was minimal. Instead the 10c denomination was chosen as the replacement because it had various usages, and "yearly sales . . . are approximately five times that of the 4c denomination." The names and denominations were rearranged, listing Washington for the 10c stamp.

After reading Black’s reply, Wright wrote again, expressing the fear that the 10c denomination "will not induce a large first day sale . . . among colored people." ¹⁴

There were other complaints, and even accusations of a racist motive in the last minute change of the Washington stamp’s denomination. At that time, every nuance pro or con about this stamp elicited strong reactions from one group or another.

Although there were few negative letters, and not much direct criticism in the press about the Washington stamp, those few contained strong anti-black, anti-Washington, and anti-Roosevelt diatribes.

Major Robert Richard Wright, Sr.

When the Post Office Department announced the Booker T. Washington stamp, and credited Major Wright for being the one who promoted its issue, the media recognized the importance of this event. The reports not only lauded the accomplishments of Booker T. Washington but also that of Major Robert Richard Wright, Sr.

Wright’s life story closely parallels that of Washington. Both were testaments to the advances that African Americans were able to make after emancipation, Wright was born in Dalton, GA on May 16, 1855. In 1865, after emancipation. Wright moved to Atlanta. He attended Atlanta University, where he received a BA in 1876, and an MA in 1879. Wright later attended Wilberforce (Ohio) University where he earned an L.L.D. in 1899.

Wright spent many decades in education, and was president of Georgia State College for thirty years. He served in the Spanish-American War in 1898, with a rank of major. In 1919, the state of Georgia commissioned him to visit Europe in order to collect data on "the Negro in the Great War". ¹⁵

In 1921, Wright became President of the Citizen and Southern Bank and Trust Co., in Philadelphia. In 1900, Booker T. Washington had helped organize the National Negro Business League, whose goal was to establish black-controlled business in the African American Community. In 1926, Major Wright became its president.

Advance Publicity

President Dr. F.D. Patterson of the Tuskegee Institute announced in early February 1940 the opening of a two month celebration of the Booker T. Washington stamp. ¹⁶ "Outstanding Negro artists will contribute their talents to the occasion. They include Paul Robeson, baritone and Roland Hayes, tenor who will be heard from different cities during the forty-five minute national radio broadcast."

Patterson also wrote, "We hope the Booker T. Washington Stamp Celebration will show the world that the people of the United States are still dedicated to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that Americans of all races can progress together in peace and harmony without foreign influence, and that there is no room here for any ‘ism’ but Americanism.".

The Booker T. Washington Memorial and Historical Association (Brooklyn, NY) wrote to Postmaster General James A. Farley about sponsorship of a Booker T. Washington Birthday dinner on March 31, 1940. ¹⁷ It planned to make a pilgrimage to Tuskegee for the first day ceremony on April 7.

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