About This Stamp
The U.S. Postal Service honors the bicentennial of the Library of Congress, established by an act of Congress and approved by President John Adams on April 24, 1800.
As stated on their bicentennial Web page, the Library of Congress “is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the world’s largest library. It preserves a collection of nearly 119 million items. In addition to its primary mission of serving the research needs of the U.S. Congress, the Library serves all Americans through its popular Web site and its 21 reading rooms on Capitol Hill.” The Library’s bicentennial goal is “to inspire creativity in the century ahead by stimulating greater use of the Library of Congress and libraries everywhere.”
The Thomas Jefferson Building, featured on the stamp and in the selvage, opened in November 1897.
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.
Existing Photo by
Michael Freeman
One of the most widely published photographers in the world, Michael Freeman specializes in documentary travel reportage, studio work, and architecture. He has been published in almost every major magazine worldwide, most notably Smithsonian magazine, for whom he has shot more than 40 stories over the course of three decades.
Freeman earned a master’s degree in geography from Oxford University and spent several years in advertising before launching his career in editorial photography with a journey up the Amazon. Much of his work has focused on Asia, beginning in Thailand and Southeast Asia, followed by several years photographing in Japan and, more recently, China.
In a career spanning 50 years, Freeman has published more than 150 books, including Sudan: The Land and the People, Tea Horse Road: China’s Ancient Trade Route to Tibet, and, most recently, The Life of Tea, which received the prestigious Fortnum and Mason Drink Book of the Year Award. Many of his two dozen photographic books on interiors and architecture are classics of the genre, including Shaker and Frank Lloyd Wright: The Masterworks. More than 80 of his books focus on the craft of photography, earning him the Prix Louis Philippe Clerc from the French Ministry of Culture.
The 2024 Shaker Design stamps are Freeman’s second project with the U.S. Postal Service. His work also appears on the Library of Congress stamp issued in 2000.