February is
African-American History Month. This observance traces its roots to February
1926, when historian Carter G. Woodson helped establish a weeklong
commemoration to raise awareness of African-Americans’ contributions. The
observance was expanded to a full month in 1976.
For more than 140
years, the U.S. Postal Service’s stamp program has celebrated the people,
events, and cultural milestones that are unique to America’s history. African-Americans
always have played a vital role in shaping that history.
The Black Heritage
Stamp Series began in 1978 with a stamp honoring Harriet Tubman, along with
many other stamps, has paid tribute to African-American leaders, athletes,
inventors, educators, scientists, entrepreneurs, and entertainers. The
Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum features a virtual exhibit, “The Black
Experience: African-Americans on Postage Stamps,” at https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/the-black-experience.
This year, a
familiar PBS NewsHour face --- Gwen Ifill --- became the 43rd addition
to the Black Heritage Stamp Series.
Ifill was an esteemed
journalist who worked at the NewsHour for 17 years, covering
eight presidential campaigns and moderating two vice-presidential debates. She
was also the moderator and managing editor of Washington
Prior to the NewsHour,
Ifill worked at newspapers in Boston and Baltimore, then joined the Washington
Post and the New York Times. Making the leap to
television, she covered politics for NBC’s D.C. bureau for several years before
she became the senior political correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim
Lehrer in 1999. In moderating Washington Week, she became
the first woman and first black journalist to helm a major national politics
show.
Ifill was also part of
the first all-women team to anchor a national nightly news program when she
became PBS NewsHour co-anchor with Judy Woodruff.
In 2016, Ifill died
from complications of cancer at age 61.
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