The U.S. Postal Service will honor the legacy of the extraordinary tennis champion Maureen Connolly Brinker (1934–1969) with the issuance of the “Little Mo” Forever stamp. The First-Day-Of-Issue dedication ceremony will take place at the Southern Methodist University Tennis Complex in Dallas, TX, on April 23.
In the early 1950s, extraordinary tennis champion Maureen Connolly Brinker dominated her sport. Nicknamed “Little Mo,” the 5-foot-4-inch dynamo used powerful groundstrokes to become the first woman to win all four major tennis tournaments in a calendar year.
In 1953, she became the first woman to capture the single-season Grand Slam of tennis, winning the Australian Championships, the French Championships, Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships. Along the way, she dropped only a single set. Since then, no American singles player has won all four majors in a calendar year; only two men and three women in total have achieved that feat. After her playing career, Connolly Brinker coached tennis and wrote articles about the game she once dominated. In 1968, she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
The stamp art features an oil-on-linen painting of the tennis star by Gregory Manchess. Based on a black-and-white photograph taken in 1952, the portrait is a colorful interpretation of Connolly hitting a low volley. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.
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