Press sheet of uncut USPS Emancipation Proclamation Freedom stamps

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

This is an United States Postal Service postage stamp press sheet of uncut stamps designed by Gail Anderson for the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The stamps are arranged in groups of twenty, with the word “FREEDOM” on the left side of each grouping. Each grouping of twenty stamps is one book of stamps. This press sheet includes ten stamp books. Each individual stamp is covered in text in black and red ink, resembling 19th century woodtype broadside, and reads “HENCEFORWARD / SHALL BE / FREE / EMANCIPATION / PROCLAMATION / ABRAHAM LINCOLN / ***1863*** / FOREVER*** USA.” The phrase “Shall be free” and the name “Abraham Lincoln” are in red, the rest of the text is in black ink. The reverse of each book has dense black text that gives historical background about the Emancipation Proclamation.

Explore Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ↗