About This Stamp
With these stamps, the U.S. Postal Service honors 12 leaders of the struggle for African-American civil rights. These visionary men and women energized a movement that spanned generations.
Art director Ethel Kessler and stamp designer Greg Berger chose to approach this project through photographic montage. Pairing two pioneers in each stamp was a way of intensifying the montage effect.
Information on the photographic portrait of each pioneer follows:
The portrait of Mary Church Terrell, from the collection of the Library of Congress, was made between 1880 and 1900.
The photograph of Mary White Ovington was taken between 1930 and 1940. It is part of the archival collection from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Library of Congress.
The image of J. R. Clifford is a detail from a photograph of unknown date from the University of Massachusetts Library Special Collections.
The portrait of Joel Elias Spingarn is dated in the 1920s and comes from the records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Library of Congress.
The portrait of Oswald Garrison Villard is undated and comes from the records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Library of Congress.
The photograph of Daisy Gatson Bates is dated 1957 and is from the New York World-Telegram & Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection at the Library of Congress.
The portrait of Charles Hamilton Houston is a photograph from the Washington Press dated November 22, 1939. It was obtained from the Library of Congress.
The portrait of Walter White, dated around 1950, is from the records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Library of Congress.
The photograph of Medgar Evers is from the Library of Congress.
The photograph of Ruby Hurley is a newspaper photo from 1963.
The portrait of Ella Baker is dated between 1943-46 and is from records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Library of Congress.
The portrait of Fannie Lou Hamer is dated August 24, 1964.
The selvage image, an illustration by Greg Berger, shows participants in a march. Details from the selvage illustration appear along with several photographic elements in the background montage created for the stamp art.
Stamp Art Director
Ethel Kessler
Ethel Kessler is an award-winning designer and art director who has worked with corporations, museums, public and private institutions, professional service organizations, and now, the United States Postal Service.
After earning a B.F.A. in visual communications from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kessler worked as a graphic designer and project manager for the exhibits division of the United States Information Agency. Her work was distributed internationally on subjects such as Immigration, Entrepreneurship, Renovation of American Cities, and the Bicentennial of 1976. She was also responsible for exhibits in Morocco, Botswana, and El Salvador.
In 1981, she established Kessler Design, Inc., for which she is creative director and designer. Clients have included the Clinton Government reorganization, the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Television, the National Park Service, and the American Institute of Architects.
She has been an art director for the U.S. Postal Service’s stamp development program for more than 25 years. As an art director for USPS, Kessler has been responsible for creating more than 500 stamp designs, including the Breast Cancer Research stamp illustrated by Whitney Sherman. Issued in 1998, the stamp is still on sale and has raised more $98 million for breast cancer research. Other Kessler projects include the popular and highly regarded Nature of America 120 stamp series, a collaboration with nationally acclaimed nature illustrator John Dawson, the 12-year Lunar New Year series with Kam Mak, the American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes 10 stamps issued in 2003, a 2016 pane of stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the 2023 stamp honoring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And many, many others.