About This Stamp
On the 100th anniversary of his birth, the U.S. Postal Service honored Claude Denson Pepper, a champion of rights for the elderly, with the issuance of this stamp, the second in the Distinguished Americans series. Pepper was born near Dudleyville, Alabama, on September 8, 1900. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1921 and from Harvard Law School in 1924.
Claude Pepper, a Democrat from Florida, served in both the U.S. Senate (1936–1951) and the U.S. House of Representatives (1963–1989). From 1977 to 1983, Mr. Pepper was chairman of the House Select Committee on Aging; in 1983, he was named chairman of the House Rules Committee. In these positions of influence, Pepper continued to focus on the needs of the elderly, with particular emphasis on Social Security and Medicare programs.
Claude Pepper died in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 1989. Five days earlier, on May 25, 1989, President George Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civil award of the U.S. government.
Stamp Art Director
Richard Sheaff
Stamp Artist
Mark Summers
Mark Summers works out of his studio in Waterdown, Ontario, Canada. He is known for his detail-rich, black-and-white portraits of literary and historical figures. His drawings, which are regularly featured in the New York Times Book Review section, are distinguished by a dense network of horizontal lines etched with exquisite precision. This scratchboard technique, reminiscent of turn-of-the-century engraved illustrations, has been used by Summers in numerous stamp designs for the U.S. Postal Service including those honoring Claude Pepper (2000), Wilma Rudolph (2004), Harriet Beecher Stowe (2007), James A. Michener (2008), and Abraham Lincoln (2009). While attending the Ontario College of Art in 1976, Summers was introduced to the scratchboard technique by the respected Canadian political cartoonist Duncan Macpherson.
Summers' present endeavors include illustrating book covers, as well as editorial, institutional, and advertising artwork. Some of his best known work was done for Barnes & Noble bookstores where his drawings appear on shopping bags, banners, and vans. Publishing clients include TIME magazine, Rolling Stone (where he currently illustrates the back page of each issue), Sports Illustrated, and The Atlantic. Summers has also created logos for Eddie Bauer and comedian Tim Allen.
Summers has been honored by the Society of Illustrators with two gold medals and one silver medal. He was selected by the Society to receive the coveted Hamilton King award in 2000. In 2019 he was inducted into the Illustrators Hall of Fame.
The 2026 Sarah Orne Jewett stamp is Summers' latest project for the Postal Service.