February 1 - First African American Woman on US Stamp

This Day in History: 1 February 2020

 

1 February 1978

 

42 years ago, today, Harriet Tubman, the antislavery crusader and Civil War veteran, became the first African American woman to appear on a US postage stamp. Her appearance on the stamps was symbolic of the progress of African American's significance in history, and the effect to put abolitionists on equal grounds with slave-owners in the nation's history. Harriet Tubman was a prominent figure of the abolition movement, a slave who escaped her captivity in Maryland and went on at least 19 trips back to free more slaves. She is estimated to have helped hundreds of slaves escape their confinement, and find freedom using the Underground Railroad. In the Civil War, she also freed 700 more as she led the Union forces on a raid, and in her later life, she worked to feed the poor with the little money she had. Harriet died in 1889 and, despite her amazing efforts; she did not receive a pension for her services in the war, and died with hardly anything to her name.

 

In the wake of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, there was a pushed effort to remember historic African American figures like Harriet. By including Tubman in the Black Heritage Series of stamps, she was put along the likes of figures such as Martin Luther King Jr, Booker T. Washington, and Jackie Robinson. Her face on the stamps, in 2016, was requested to replace that of President Andrew Jackson, a slave-owner and white supremacist, on the 20 dollar bill. However, this was cancelled the next year by Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary.

 

Want to find out more about the life of Harriet Tubman, and the significance of her image on the US postage stamp? Click here for a biography of her life, and click here for more information on the stamp.