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Publication 512

April 2003

©2003 United States Postal Service

All rights reserved

Produced by Diversity Development

For more information, please visit www.usps.com

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WOMEN ON STAMPS

Sending a powerful message requires a powerful tool. And the mail is

one of the most powerful — and easily accessible — communication

tools available today. A single postage stamp is the only investment you

need.

Since the first postage stamps were issued more than 150 years ago,

just about every one of them has also carried a message about our

shared heritage, our diverse culture and the people and events that

have helped build a great nation.

Women have had a strong and lasting impact on American history. The

Postal Service is proud to honor their influence and achievements

through our stamp program. They are artists, abolitionists, national

leaders and physicians. They are war heroes, pioneers, authors and

performers.

They are American painter and printmaker Mary Cassatt, a home-grown

and world-renowned Impressionist; Harriet Tubman, who personally led

over 300 individuals from slavery to freedom; Patsy Cline, whose

plaintive voice personifies the sound of country music; and Eleanor

Roosevelt, the vocal and progressive First Lady, who became a

champion for social reform and human rights.

For more than a century, since 1893, when a woman first appeared on a

United States postage stamp, the Postal Service has proudly honored

women and their achievements. We will continue to tell their story, and

the story of America, through our stamp program.

The United States Postal Service has bound the nation together through

its personal and business communications for more than two centuries.

We have continually evolved to serve a growing nation more efficiently

and effectively — without operational subsidies. And we continue that

process today, as we transform ourselves to meet the challenges of the

21st century.

John E. Potter

Postmaster General
QUEEN ISABELLA

(1451–1504)

Queen Isabella’s special patronage of Christopher Columbus made

possible his first voyage to America in 1492 and opened the way for new

discoveries and worldwide trade. 

Issued: 1893 and 1992

MARTHA WASHINGTON

(1731–1802)

The 8-cent stamp portraying Martha Washington was

the first U.S. postage stamp honoring an American

woman. As the wife of George

Washington, the first president of the United States, she was the first “first lady”

of our country. Although she would have preferred a quiet family life on their

farmland, she often accompanied and supported her husband and his troops in

the field during the American Revolution, and then served graciously as the

official hostess for the country during the first presidential administration.

Issued: 1902, 1923, and 1938

POCAHONTAS

(ca. 1595–1617)

Pocahontas was a princess of the Algonquian Indians in the area

around the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia. According to legend,

she saved the life of Captain John Smith after he had been captured

by members of her tribe. Pocahontas later married the Englishman

John Rolfe, and by these and other actions, she helped to pacify the

relationships between the people of the New and Old Worlds.

Issued: 1907

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WOMEN ON STAMPS

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MOTHERS OF AMERICA

Issued in tribute to the mothers of the nation,

this stamp replicates the famous painting often called

“Whistler’s Mother” — its actual title is Arrangement in Gray

and Black, No. 1: Portrait of the Artist’s Mother, by James

Abbott McNeill Whistler.

Issued: 1934

SUSAN B. ANTHONY

(1820–1906)

Susan B. Anthony was a reformer and feminist who spent more than 50 years

making major contributions to the woman suffrage cause, despite continuous

opposition. Although she did not live to see the success of this movement, in

1920 the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution ensured that women would

not be denied the right to vote as U.S. citizens because of their sex. In honor

of her efforts for this cause, the 19th amendment has often been called the

“Anthony amendment.”

Issued: 1936 and 1955

VIRGINIA DARE

(1587–?)

Virginia Dare was the first child born of English parents in the New World, in

the settlement of Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina. But nothing

else is known about the rest of her life — or those of the settlement’s other

members, who are known as the “Lost Colony.” When supply ships arrived at

the settlement several years later, the only trace of the colonists was the word

“Croatoan” carved on a tree — to this day, their fate is uncertain. Virginia

Dare symbolizes both the hope and the uncertainty that all pioneers and

immigrants face in new lands.

Issued: 1937
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

(1832–1888)

Louisa May Alcott is best known for her book Little Women, a story of four

sisters that is loosely based on her own family life. Another of her

published works is Hospital Sketches, a recollection of her experiences as a

nurse in the Civil War. Alcott also was engaged in many social reforms of

the day, such as abolition, temperance, and woman suffrage.

Issued: 1940 

FRANCES E. WILLARD

(1839–1898)

Frances E. Willard was a renowned and successful American educator,

reformer, lecturer, and suffragist. She helped found the Women’s Christian

Temperance Union and served as its president from 1879 to 1898. In 1905,

Willard was the first woman to be honored with a statue in the National

Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol.

Issued: 1940

JANE ADDAMS

(1860–1935)

Jane Addams was the founder of Chicago’s Hull House, which was part of the

settlement house movement that provided much-needed social services in

poor and working-class neighborhoods. She also was the first president of the

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, serving from 1919 to

1929. For her efforts, Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931,

the first American woman to receive this honor.

Issued: 1940

PROGRESS OF WOMEN

Issued in the centennial year of the first women’s rights

convention in Seneca Falls, New York, this stamp pictures

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902), a pioneer reformer

for woman suffrage and women’s rights; Carrie Chapman

Catt (1859–1947), a suffrage reformer and first president of

the League of Women Voters; and Lucretia Mott (1793–1880), an abolitionist, an early advocate

for women’s rights, and an organizer of the 1848 convention.

Issued: 1948

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WOMEN ON STAMPS

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CLARA BARTON

(1821–1912)

Serving as a nurse during the Civil War, Clara Barton

became known as the “angel of the battlefield” for her efforts

to care for the wounded of both sides. In 1881 she founded

the American Red Cross, becoming its first president and

serving from 1882 to 1904. 

Issued: 1948 and 1995

GOLD STAR MOTHERS

During World War II, many families displayed a banner with a blue star for

each family member serving in the armed forces and a gold star for any

member who had paid the supreme sacrifice in the war. Accordingly, the

term “gold star mother” referred to any

woman who had lost a child in defense of

the country. These stamps were issued in

tribute to all those mothers and the

sacrifices they and their children had

made.

Issued: 1948 and 1993

JULIETTE GORDON LOW

(1860–1927)

In 1912 in Savannah, Georgia, Juliette Gordon Low started the

organization that would become the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. She

was enthusiastic, energetic, and totally committed to the group,

wearing her Girl Scout uniform and promoting the group wherever

she went. In 1979, Low was inducted into the National Women’s Hall

of Fame.

Issued: 1948
MOINA MICHAEL

(1869–1944)

Moina Michael is the person most responsible for establishing

the symbol of the red poppy as a memorial to those who served

in World War I. As a volunteer for the YMCA Overseas War

Workers in 1918, she was inspired by a poem describing poppies

growing on a battlefield cemetery in France, and she promoted

this symbol to many national organizations. In 1920, the American Legion adopted this symbol, and

with the help of the American Legion Auxiliary, disabled veterans made and sold silk poppies to raise

funds for their support and rehabilitation. For her efforts to help and honor veterans, Michael received

several tributes from the American Legion and her home state of Georgia.

Issued: 1948

BETSY ROSS

(1752–1836)

Legend states that Betsy Ross made the first American flag having

the familiar stars and stripes design. Whether one views this

legend as fact or fable, historical accounts prove that Ross, a

Philadelphia seamstress and acquaintance of George Washington,

was a patriot of the new country and did indeed provide some

flags to the government. There are only a few locations in the

nation where, by Executive Order, the U.S. flag flies 24 hours

a day — the Betsy Ross House is one of those locations.

Issued: 1952

WOMEN IN MILITARY SERVICE

Nearly two million women have served in the U.S. Army, Navy,

Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard with dedication,

courage, and patriotism in times of conflict and peace. Women

have served in defense of our nation since the American

Revolution and they continue to do so today. The 1997 stamp

was issued at the dedication of the Women in Military Service for

America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington,

Virginia.

Issued: 1952 and 1997

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WOMEN ON STAMPS

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SACAGAWEA

(ca. 1788–1812)

Sacagawea was the only woman to accompany the Lewis and

Clark Expedition of 1804–1806 through the Pacific Northwest.

Being a young woman with a child, she was a sign to the

American Indian tribes that the exploring party had peaceful

intentions. But Sacagawea also provided invaluable assistance

in interpreting and trading with tribes, finding food and

medicinal herbs, understanding the landscape, and finding

usable trails. In his journal, Clark praised her for contributing

fully to the expedition’s success.

Issued: 1954 and 1994

THE AMERICAN WOMAN

This stamp honors the countless contributions and

achievements that American women have made in civic affairs,

education, industry, and the arts, as well as their vital role in the

home by providing guidance, strength, support, and

commitment to American youth.

Issued: 1960

CAMP FIRE GIRLS

Founded in 1910, Camp Fire Girls sought to promote the health and spirit of

girls, often through outdoor activities such as hiking and camping that

traditionally were not available to them. The organization also advocated other

nontraditional ideas such as measuring

and creating standards for women’s work,

promoting teamwork among girls, and

preparing women for new economic

conditions. It officially opened its

membership to boys in 1975 and is now

known as Camp Fire USA.

Issued: 1960 and 1985
NURSING

The profession of nursing has always provided a crucial function in the medical

community and to society as a whole. Nurses bring care and comfort to the sick

and the recuperating, they nurture and support everyone from infants to the

aged, and they assist doctors in analyzing and treating patients and performing

operations. Nurses also perform a variety of other beneficial services including

research, health education, and patient consultation.

Issued: 1961

GIRL SCOUTS U.S.A.

Formed in 1912 and originally known as the Girl

Guides, the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. has used a

variety of outdoor activities to promote selfreliance and resourcefulness among young girls.

Since its inception, the organization has helped

more than 50 million girls learn new skills, gain

confidence in themselves, share camaraderie with

their peers, and provide service to others. (See

also Juliette Gordon Low, page 5.)

Issued: 1962, 1987, and 1998

AMELIA EARHART

(1897–1937)

Amelia Earhart achieved many “firsts” as a female pilot — she was the first

woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and across the U.S. continent (both

in 1932), and across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to California (1935).

For her trans-Atlantic flight, Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying

Cross. In addition to her aviation career, Earhart also served as a nurse

during World War I and as a women’s career counselor at Purdue University

in the mid-1930s. Her achievements were inspiring not only to women but

to all of America struggling through the Depression. Her mysterious

disappearance in the Pacific while attempting to fly around the world in

1937 seems only to add to her reputation as an adventurous trailblazer. 

Issued: 1963

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WOMEN ON STAMPS

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ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

(1884–1962)

Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most influential people of the

20th century, not only during her years as the country’s “first

lady” when her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was president,

but also before and after. During

World War I, she worked for several organizations that provided

assistance to service personnel, and after the war, she was active in the

League of Women Voters and served as a translator for the International

Congress of Working Women. When her husband was stricken with

polio, she helped him in his rehabilitation and encouraged and assisted

him in continuing his political career. While in the White House, she

held press conferences and wrote a newspaper column, helped

develop several New Deal social programs, promoted improved

race relations, and visited overseas troops in World War II. After

the war, she served the country for many years in the United

Nations, chairing the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

Issued: 1963, 1984, and 1998

HOMEMAKERS

This stamp was issued to salute American women for 

“making a house a home.” The stamp also commemorates the

50th anniversary of the 1914 Smith-Lever Act, which helped

improve home life throughout America by providing home

economics experts to advise women on better ways to feed and

clothe their families.

Issued: 1964

GENERAL FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S CLUBS

This stamp was issued in recognition of the 75 years of service

of the General Federation of Women’s Club. Founded in 1890,

the organization is comprised of and provides support to

community-based volunteer women’s clubs dedicated to

community service. The clubs’ areas of activity include

education, conservation, the arts, home life, international affairs,

public affairs, and any special needs affecting the community. With more than one million members

worldwide, it is one of the world’s largest women’s volunteer service organizations.

Issued: 1966
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MARY CASSATT

(1844–1926)

Considered the greatest American female artist

of her time, Mary Cassatt is famous for her

paintings that capture the intimacy between

mother and child in simple yet fresh moments.

Born to a wealthy Pennsylvania family, she spent most of her life in

France working closely with Impressionist artists including Edgar

Degas, Paul Monet, and Pierre Renoir. Cassatt created the mural called Modern

Woman for the 1893 World’s Columbian

Exposition in Chicago. She also helped

shape American art collections by

influencing several patrons to purchase

works from newer artists as well as the

traditional masters. Cassatt was depicted on a stamp in

1988, and six other stamps show reproductions of her

paintings The Boating Party, Breakfast in Bed, Young

Mother, Children Playing on the Beach, On a Balcony,

and Child in a Straw Hat.

Issued: 1966, 1988, 1998, and 2003 

LUCY STONE

(1818–1893)

Lucy Stone was one of the earliest and most influential advocates of women’s

rights in America, as well as a staunch proponent of abolition. She was the first

woman in America to keep her own name after marriage, and other women who

followed this practice were sometimes called “Lucy Stoners.” Claiming “taxation

without representation,” Stone was also the first woman to refuse to pay property taxes because she

was not allowed to vote. She helped organize the national women’s rights convention in 1850, the

American Equal Rights Association in 1866, and the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1869.

In 1870 Stone also founded Woman’s Journal, a weekly suffrage newspaper, and later became its

editor.

Issued: 1968
WOMEN ON STAMPS

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GRANDMA MOSES

(1860–1961)

One of America’s best-known and best-loved artists, Anna Mary Robertson

“Grandma” Moses took up painting in her seventies, after she had

retired from a life of farmwork. A self-taught artist, she produced about

1,600 paintings, including several after her 100th birthday. Her works

depict the landscapes and traditional activities of rural life, often evoking

memories of simpler times while nurturing hope for the future. This stamp

reproduces her 1951 painting July Fourth.

Issued: 1969

19TH AMENDMENT

In 1848, at the first women’s

rights convention in Seneca

Falls, New York, the delegates

passed a resolution seeking the

right to vote for women. For

more than 70 years, suffragists campaigned vigorously for this

right, which was finally realized when Tennessee became the 36th state to

ratify the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution on August 26, 1920.

On the 50th anniversary of ratification, the Postal Service issued the

“Woman Suffrage” stamp in Adams, Massachusetts, the birthplace of

suffragist leader Susan B. Anthony. It also issued a 32-cent stamp on the

75th anniversary of ratification, as well as another stamp honoring the

amendment in its Celebrate the CenturyTM series.

Issued: 1970, 1995, and 1998

EMILY DICKINSON

(1830–1886)

Emily Dickinson is considered the greatest American female poet of the

19th century — and one of the finest and most influential American poets

ever. But only a few of her 1,700 poems were published in her lifetime, and

those anonymously and without her consent. Her style of using short

phrases set off with dashes was unconventional and complex. Her themes

focused on intense extremes of life and death, grief and ecstasy, love and

loneliness, religious salvation and sensual romance. Although Dickinson

lived a secluded life, rarely leaving her house after her late twenties, her

powerful poetry has touched generations of readers.

Issued: 1971
WILLA CATHER

(1873–1947)

Willa Cather is one of the most distinguished American novelists of the

20th century. Setting many of her works in the Great Plains and the

American Southwest, Cather writes of the conflict between the frontier

pioneers and the emerging modern world, of the clash between

independent, adventurous spirits and the restrictions of urbanization and materialism. She imbues her

characters, including many women, with the strength and determination needed to face despair and

disillusionment. Cather won the Pulitzer Prize in 1923 for her novel One of Ours, about a young

Nebraskan in World War I, and in 1930 she won the Howells Medal from the American Academy of

Arts and Letters for her 1927 novel Death Comes to the Archbishop. Some of Cather’s other

acclaimed novels are A Lost Lady, My Antonia, The Song of the Lark, and O Pioneers!

Issued: 1973

ELIZABETH BLACKWELL

(1821–1910)

In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to receive a medical

degree, graduating first in her class at Geneva Medical College in New York.

She continued her education in Europe before returning to New York City, where

she opened her own practice and also the New York Infirmary for Indigent

Women and Children, which had an all-female staff. Because women were

having difficulty getting accepted to medical schools, she added the Woman’s Medical College of

New York to the Infirmary in 1868, and in 1869 she founded a similar school in England. During

the Civil War, she and her sister Emily, who was also a physician, helped create the U.S. Sanitary

Commission, which trained nurses and cared for the wounded.

Issued: 1974

SYBIL LUDINGTON

(1761–1839)

Like Paul Revere before her, Sybil Ludington rode through the

night to call the American militia to arms in defense of liberty. 

On April 26, 1777, the British attacked Danbury, Connecticut,

burning the town and destroying the American army’s supplies.

Sybil’s father was the commander of the local militia, and when he received word to organize his

forces for battle, 16-year-old Sybil volunteered to ride all night to spread the alarm. In the dark,

through rain and dense woods, over roads patrolled by British troops, loyalist sympathizers, and

marauding highwaymen, Sybil successfully roused the countryside. Spurred by her heroic ride, the

militia gathered at her father’s house by daybreak, marched on Danbury, and defeated the British.

Issued: 1975

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WOMEN ON STAMPS

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S YEAR

The United Nations General Assembly designated 1975 as

International Women’s Year, focusing on the themes of equality,

development, and peace. Many events were held to promote

women’s rights and to increase women’s participation in

political activities and social issues in the community, the

country, and the world. The Postal Service issued this stamp

in Seneca Falls, New York, site of the first women’s rights

convention in the United States.

Issued: 1975

CLARA MAASS

(1876–1901)

While serving as a nurse in Cuba during the Spanish-American War of

1898 and in the Philippines in 1899, Clara Maass saw firsthand the fatal

effects of yellow fever, which killed more soldiers than combat did. During a

second mission to Cuba, Maass volunteered for a medical experiment and

allowed herself to be bitten by mosquitoes, which were suspected of

transmitting the disease. At first, she recovered from a mild form of yellow

fever, but after volunteering again to receive more bites, the illness proved fatal. Her unselfish sacrifice

advanced medical science by helping to indicate how the disease was spread. In 1976, the centennial

year of her birth, Maass was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame and honored

on a stamp by the Postal Service.

Issued: 1976

SEAMSTRESS

Even as civilians rather than soldiers, many Americans proved

essential in the Revolutionary War by using their skills to support

the struggle for independence. Women often worked as

seamstresses, sewing flags, uniforms, blankets, and other

equipment for troops in the field. Perhaps the most famous

seamstress is Betsy Ross, but there were countless other women

who contributed to victory by employing their craft for their country’s benefit. This stamp was one of

four in a series called Skilled Hands for Independence.

Issued: 1977
HARRIET TUBMAN

(ca. 1820–1913)

Born a slave, abolitionist Harriet Tubman earned the nickname “the Moses of

her people” for helping over 300 slaves, including her own family members,

escape to freedom on the famed Underground

Railroad before and during the Civil War. She also

served the Union Army as a spy, scout, and nurse.

When she was in her eighties, she donated land and helped establish the

Harriet Tubman Home, which provided assistance to aged and indigent

African Americans. Tubman was the first African-American woman to be

honored on a U.S. postage stamp. 

Issued: 1978 and 1995

FRANCES PERKINS

(1880–1965)

Frances Perkins was the first female member of a presidential cabinet,

serving as secretary of labor for Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945.

She devoted her career to social reform and improving working conditions

for Americans, serving on many commissions in New York City and

New York state before heading the Labor Department. As the integral

force behind the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Fair Labor

Standards Act of 1938, Perkins helped set standards for minimum

wages, working hours, worker safety, social security and unemployment

benefits, and other labor issues.

Issued: 1980

DOLLEY MADISON

(1768–1849)

Dolley Madison, the wife of President James Madison, is perhaps best known

for saving Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington before the British

burned the White House in 1814. While many others fled the city, she bravely

stayed until the last possible moment to secure important government

documents and other items, including the famous portrait. Madison is also well

known for her gracious charm as a White House hostess, often soothing

tensions during times of intense political differences.

Issued: 1980

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HELEN KELLER

(1880–1968)

ANNE SULLIVAN

(1866–1936)

With Anne Sullivan as her teacher and constant companion, Helen Keller

overcame the challenge of blindness and deafness to show the world that people

with disabilities can lead full lives, make outstanding contributions, and bring

hope to everyone. After graduating from Radcliffe College, Keller devoted her life

to helping others, writing and speaking on behalf of the disabled and on other

social issues such as women’s rights and racial equality. In 1924, Keller and

Sullivan started their association with the American Foundation for the Blind,

serving together as counselors and advocates for the rest of their lives.

Issued: 1980

EDITH WHARTON

(1862–1937)

In 1921, Edith Wharton became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize,

awarded for her novel The Age of Innocence. In that work and many others,

Wharton portrayed a monied, materialistic society whose conventions

restricted and destroyed the desires of its members. Although best known as

an American novelist, Wharton, who spent most of her adult life in France,

also received the French Legion of Honor for her extensive work helping

refugees and others during World War I.

Issued: 1980

EMILY BISSELL

(1861–1948)

Emily Bissell started the American tradition of using Christmas Seals to help fight

lung diseases. When Bissell, an active social worker in Wilmington, Delaware,

was asked in 1907 to help raise funds for a small facility aiding tuberculosis

patients, she began a campaign based on the Danish practice of adding charity

stamps to holiday greeting cards. Her efforts were so successful that the

campaign was taken nationwide the next year, and Christmas Seals have been

used every year since then to raise awareness and funds.

Issued: 1980
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WOMEN ON STAMPS

BLANCHE STUART SCOTT

(1889–1970)

Introduced to flying in 1910, Blanche Stuart Scott is often

credited with being the first woman to make a solo flight. But

this first solo was unexpected — as a student pilot, she was

attempting to taxi down the runway when a gust of wind made

her airborne. Soon Scott joined the barnstorming circuit,

performing as a daredevil pilot billed as the “Tomboy of the Air.” In 1912, she became the first female

test pilot when she signed a contract to fly prototype aircraft. After World War II, while working for the

U.S. Air Force Museum, Scott became one of the first women to fly in a jet.

Issued: 1980

RACHEL CARSON

(1907–1964)

Both an exacting scientist and an eloquent writer, Rachel Carson won the

National Book Award in 1951 for The Sea Around Us. But in 1962 Carson

shocked the world with her book Silent Spring, which touched off an

international controversy over the deadly effects of pesticides. Entrancing

readers with basic scientific information, the book remained a best-seller for

more than a year. Her groundbreaking work against the government’s approval and use of harmful

chemicals raised ecological consciousness and helped spark the environmental movement of the late

20th century.

Issued: 1981

EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

(1892–1950)

In 1923, Edna St. Vincent Millay became the first woman to win the Pulitzer

Prize for poetry. Born in Rockland, Maine, she began writing poetry early,

and one of her poems, “Renascence,” won her a scholarship to Vassar

College. Many of her poems celebrated the freedom of the bohemian

lifestyle she led in New York City and Europe, and she mastered the

traditional sonnet form. In the late 1930s, as the world lurched toward war,

she wrote many poems decrying fascism and urging people and

governments to rise against it.

Issued: 1981
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BABE ZAHARIAS

(1911–1956)

Mildred (“Babe”) Didrikson Zaharias was acclaimed by the Associated Press

as the Woman Athlete of the 20th Century. She was an All-American

basketball player from 1930 to 1932, leading her team to the national

championship in 1931. In the 1932 Amateur Athletic Union championships,

she placed first in six of ten events — thereby winning the team title by

herself! — and at the Olympic Games that followed, she won two gold

medals and a silver medal. Zaharias started her golfing career in 1933, and

in the following 22 years, she helped found the Ladies Professional Golf

Association and won 55 tournaments, including 17 in a row, 3 U.S. Women’s Opens, and the British

Women’s Amateur. By competing against established norms for women, hurtling barriers, and

triumphing over restrictive stereotypes, Zaharias was a leading women’s pioneer not just in sports but

in society.

Issued: 1981

ETHEL BARRYMORE

(1879–1959)

Known as the “first lady of the American theater,” Ethel Barrymore was one

of several siblings who were renowned actors in the early 20th century.

(Also pictured on the stamp are her two brothers, John and Lionel.)

Continuing in a long line of entertainers, Barrymore performed on stage

and radio and in films and television. To get her to star in a new play in

1927, a leading New York theatrical organization built a theatre and named

it in her honor, and the Ethel Barrymore Theatre is still operating today. In

1944, she won an Academy Award for her performance in None but the

Lonely Heart.

Issued: 1982

WOMEN ON STAMPS
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WOMEN ON STAMPS

DR. MARY WALKER

(1832–1919)

Dr. Mary Walker was the first (and so far only) woman to be awarded the

Congressional Medal of Honor, in 1865. After becoming the second woman

in the U.S. to receive a medical degree, Walker volunteered for the Union

Army during the Civil War, serving near the front lines as a field surgeon for

several years. In addition to treating wounded soldiers, she often crossed the

front lines to treat civilians also affected by the war. On one such occasion,

she was captured by Confederates and spent four months as a prisoner of

war. Walker devoted much of her life to advocating women’s rights, including

dress reform — at a time when most clothing for women was uncomfortable and physically restrictive,

she wore trousers. In 1917 Walker’s medal was one of more than 900 that the U.S. Army rescinded,

but she defiantly refused to return it. In 1977 the award was reinstated.

Issued: 1982

DOROTHEA DIX

(1802–1887)

Social and political activist Dorothea Dix was a crusader for the mentally ill and

for prison reform. After being a teacher for 20 years, Dix campaigned to improve

the appalling conditions in prisons, which at the time housed the mentally ill as

well as criminals. Dix lobbied many state legislatures to provide better care for

prison inmates and to build hospitals devoted to the mentally ill. She was directly responsible for

founding more than 30 mental hospitals throughout the country, and more were established because

of the awareness she raised. During the Civil War, Dix served as the Union Army’s superintendent of

women nurses and helped to markedly improve the care provided to wounded soldiers.

Issued: 1983

PEARL BUCK

(1892–1973)

Pearl Buck was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for

Literature. Buck was the daughter of American missionaries to China, and she

spent most of her first 40 years in that country. It was the setting for her famous

novel The Good Earth, which was the first book in a trilogy about the travails and

successes of a Chinese farm family. This novel earned her the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and the Howells

Medal in 1935, and she won the Nobel Prize in 1938 for the trilogy as well as for biographies of her

parents. When she moved to the U.S. in 1934, Buck became active in social and political causes,

working to improve East-West relations and creating foundations to help children in need.

Issued: 1983
LILLIAN M. GILBRETH

(1878–1972)

A pioneer in industrial engineering and scientific management, Lillian

Gilbreth, together with her husband and business partner, Frank, developed

theories and practices to increase both labor efficiency and worker satisfaction

in industry as well as at home. In 1930, Gilbreth headed the President’s

Emergency Committee for Unemployment Relief, helping industry and the workforce overcome the

effects of the Depression. Gilbreth was the first woman elected to the National Academy of

Engineering and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Her life as a professional and

mother of 12 is celebrated in the book and movie Cheaper By the Dozen.

Issued: 1984

BIG SISTERS

In 1905, an organization of women in New York City reached

out to young girls whose personal development was put at

risk because of poverty, inadequate education, delinquency,

or other trials. The women developed one-on-one

relationships with the girls to build friendship and trust

leading to hope and better opportunities. Over the years similar groups were established in

many communities, and in 1970 Big Sisters International was chartered. In 1977, it merged with

a similar organization directed at boys to form Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, which now

has more than 500 affiliated agencies nationwide.

Issued: 1985

ABIGAIL ADAMS

(1744–1818)

Even had she not been the wife of one U.S. president and the mother of

another, Abigail Adams would probably still be remembered today as one of

the American colonial era’s most learned women and leading female letter

writers. Self-taught from her youth through her own avid reading, Adams

reveals her keen intelligence and expressive writing style in the long years of

correspondence with John Adams, her husband and one of the country’s

founding fathers. The letters convey strong support for women’s education and legal rights,

opposition to slavery, insights into the political ideals of the times, and

descriptions of the daily struggles of running a household and farm

during the Revolution. And because her letters also show the strong

bonds of affection between life-long companions, one of them was

chosen as the background for the 55-cent “Love Letter” stamp.

Issued: 1985 and 2001

19

WOMEN ON STAMPS
20

WOMEN ON STAMPS

MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE

(1875–1955)

Mary McLeod Bethune was a noted educator and social activist. In 1904 she

founded the school that eventually became Bethune-Cookman College,

serving as its president for almost 40 years. Bethune also founded the

National Council of Negro Women in 1935 to advance issues affecting

African Americans. Bethune served several U.S. presidents as an advisor on

issues such as child welfare, and in 1936 she became the first AfricanAmerican woman to head a federal agency when President Roosevelt

appointed her as a director of the National Youth Administration. In 1945, at the request of President

Truman, she attended the United Nations organization meeting.

Issued: 1985

SOJOURNER TRUTH

(ca. 1797–1883)

One of the most inspirational and widely known African Americans of the

19th century was Sojourner Truth. She was born Isabella Bomefree (also

spelled “Baumfree”) about 1797, a slave in New York, but she received her

freedom in 1828. In the 1830s, she became involved in evangelical

movements, and in 1843 she changed her name to Sojourner Truth and

began traveling and preaching. Her autobiography, The Narrative of

Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave, was published in 1850, and her speeches

against slavery and for woman suffrage drew large crowds. In 1864,

President Abraham Lincoln received her at the White House, and from 1864 to 1868 she worked with

the National Freedmen’s Relief Association to advise former slaves as they started new lives.

Issued: 1986

BELVA ANN LOCKWOOD

(1830–1917)

Attorney and activist Belva Ann Lockwood was a pioneer in securing many legal

rights for women. Even before receiving her law degree in 1873 (she was one of

the first women to earn one), Lockwood drafted a bill that Congress passed in

1872 providing female government employees with equal pay for equal work.

She also drafted the 1879 legislation allowing women to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, and

then became the first woman to do so. In 1903, when Congress received statehood bills for Arizona,

New Mexico, and Oklahoma, Lockwood wrote amendments to the bills granting voting rights to

women in those states. She also was the first woman to campaign for the presidency, running for the

National Equal Rights Party in 1884 and 1888.

Issued: 1986
WOMEN ON STAMPS

21

MARGARET MITCHELL

(1900–1949)

Margaret Mitchell wrote only one novel, but Gone With the Wind became a

publishing phenomenon, setting sales records immediately and for decades

to come. It won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 and is considered one of the

finest novels of the 20th century. Before writing her famous book, Mitchell

was one of the first women to work as a reporter and columnist for the

South’s largest newspaper, the Atlanta Journal. After winning worldwide acclaim, she spent most of

her time on philanthropic causes, such as funding libraries in her home state of Georgia, sponsoring

scholarships at Morehouse College, and working for integration and improved race relations.

Issued: 1986

MARY LYON

(1797–1849)

Mary Lyon was the foremost person responsible for establishing women’s

higher education in America and elevating it to a level equitable to that

available to men. In 1837, after teaching for more than 20 years, Lyon founded

Mount Holyoke Female Seminary and served as its president for the rest of

her life. She made the school unlike other women’s schools at the time by

developing a curriculum with science, mathematics, history, and Latin. Many graduates of the school

(now called Mount Holyoke College) then followed Lyon’s example and extended education to other

women by starting schools elsewhere in the country and the world.

Issued: 1987

JULIA WARD HOWE

(1819–1910)

Julia Ward Howe is best known for writing the words for “The Battle Hymn

of the Republic,” the Union’s anthem during the Civil War and still one of

the country’s great patriotic songs. Before the war, Howe helped her

husband publish the antislavery newspaper The Commonwealth, and during

the war she worked with the U.S. Sanitary Commission, an organization that

helped save lives by reforming health and sanitary conditions in army camps. In the late 1860s, Howe

turned her energies to woman suffrage, helping to found the New England Woman Suffrage

Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association, and in 1870 she became the editor for

Woman’s Journal. Howe, who had published several volumes of poetry in the 1850s, continued to

write poems and other works throughout her life, and in 1907 she was the first woman elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Issued: 1987
22

WOMEN ON STAMPS

HAZEL WIGHTMAN

(1886–1974)

In the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, 38-year-old Hazel Wightman won

gold medals in women’s doubles and mixed doubles, and she

considered these victories among her greatest thrills. During her long

career, Wightman won dozens of tennis titles in singles, doubles, and

mixed doubles competition, including U.S. championships in all three categories for three consecutive

years from 1909 to 1911, and winning her last national title, in doubles, at the age of 56. She is

credited with developing the “volley” game of hitting the ball out of the air near the net rather than on

a bounce near the baseline, and she helped initiate the annual women’s tennis tournament between the

United States and Great Britain, which became known as the Wightman Cup, playing several times and

serving as captain for many years. Wightman was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame

in 1957.

Issued: 1990

HELENE MADISON

(1913–1970)

Helene Madison stood on the top step of the victory stand three times

during the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles to receive gold

medals in swimming, setting records in each event. Madison set an

Olympic record in the 100-meter freestyle and a world record in the

400-meter freestyle, and she helped the U.S. team set another world

record in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. Madison started competing

in international swimming events when she was 15 years old, and

during her career she set more than a hundred national and world records. In fact, at one point in her

career, Madison held all the U.S. records in women’s freestyle swimming — a feat never duplicated.

Issued: 1990

MARIANNE MOORE

(1887–1972)

Considered one of the finest American poets of the 20th century, Marianne

Moore won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Bollingen Prize

from Yale University in 1952 for her work Collected Poems. Moore’s poetry was

acclaimed for precise descriptions, concise language, and the ability to create

many images and themes from just one item. She used the free-form verse

characteristic of modernist poets, and she often used imagery of animals and

nature to reflect themes such as courage, patience, and perseverance. Moore also influenced other

artists while serving as the editor of the prestigious literary and arts magazine Dial from 1925 to 1929.

Issued: 1990
23

IDA B. WELLS

(1862–1931)

Ida B. Wells devoted her life to educating people about the appalling

aspects of discrimination against women and African Americans. Her first

job was as a teacher, but she became a journalist when she started to write

about her experiences of suing a railroad company for racial discrimination.

Much of her journalism career centered on the antilynching crusade and

promoting voting rights for women. In 1909 Wells was a founder of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and

in 1910 she founded the Negro Fellowship League, which provided services

to people moving from rural areas to Chicago looking for work. In 1913, Wells founded Illinois’ first

suffrage club for African-American women, the Alpha Suffrage Club.

Issued: 1990

HARRIET QUIMBY

(1875–1912)

In 1911, Harriet Quimby became the first American woman to

receive a pilot’s license and, in 1912, the first woman to fly solo

across the English Channel. Quimby combined her adventurous

spirit with dramatic style, wearing her trademark, self-designed

purple satin flying outfit while performing in aviation exhibitions

in North America and Europe. She was also a successful and well-known journalist in San Francisco

and New York City, and after she became a pilot, she chronicled her flying exploits in many

newspaper articles, allowing readers to soar with her. Although Quimby died in an aviation accident,

her daring accomplishments encouraged others to also venture into uncharted areas.

Issued: 1991

FANNY BRICE

(1891–1951)

Fanny Brice was one of the most popular vaudevillians with the

famous Ziegfeld Follies theatrical shows in the first several

decades of the 20th century. As a comedian, Brice performed

hilarious satires, parodies, and lampoons of celebrities, and she

also created a character named “Baby Snooks,” whose

mischievous antics amused audiences in theaters and later on Brice’s own long-running radio show.

Brice, whose life is portrayed in the Broadway musical and Hollywood film Funny Girl, could also

step out of her comic role and sing passionate, poignant songs such as “My Man” and “Rose of

Washington Square.”

Issued: 1991

WOMEN ON STAMPS
24

WOMEN ON STAMPS

DOROTHY PARKER

(1893–1967)

Dorothy Parker’s wide-ranging literary works include poems, short stories,

book and drama reviews, magazine articles, theatrical plays, and screen

plays. In 1927, Parker won the prestigious O. Henry Award for her short

story “The Big Blonde,” and in 1937 she won an Academy Award for her

work on the movie A Star Is Born, both of which depict women facing

difficulties. A member of the famed Algonquin Roundtable, an informal group

of artistic intellectuals, she had a sarcastic, satirical wit that was bitingly

humorous and that often conveyed cynicism and pessimism. In 1959, Parker

was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Issued: 1992

WOMEN SUPPORT AMERICA IN WORLD WAR II

When America’s men left home to join the armed forces during 

World War II, millions of women filled the empty posts in factories and

other workplaces to sustain the effort required for victory. Images of

“Rosie the Riveter,” with rolled-up sleeves and determined gaze, both

portrayed and applauded the support

provided by American women, who during the war comprised almost

one-third of the civilian workforce. The women who answered their

country’s call and entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers not

only displayed their patriotism and performed vital functions, but they

forever changed women’s role in the American labor market.

Issued: 1992 and 1999

GRACE KELLY

(1929–1982)

Crowned a princess of the silver screen because of her beauty and talent,

Grace Kelly actually did become royalty when she married Prince Rainier

of Monaco in 1956. Beginning her film career in 1951, Kelly starred

in classics such as High Noon, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and

High Society, and she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for

The Country Girl. Kelly no longer acted after her marriage, but using

her status as a member of Monaco’s royal family as well as a former

movie star, she devoted much of her time to raising funds for charitable

causes and helping the disadvantaged.

Issued: 1993
25

DINAH WASHINGTON

(1924–1963)

Born Ruth Jones in 1924, Dinah Washington became one of America’s

most popular and versatile singers. She began her career as a gospel

singer, established herself as the “queen of the blues,” and also made

recordings of jazz, pop, rhythm and blues, and even country songs.

Her signature song was “What a Difference a Day Makes.”

Unfortunately, her life was tragically cut short when she died after an accidental overdose of

prescription medications. Washington was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame in 1996. 

Issued: 1993

PATSY CLINE

(1932–1963)

Patsy Cline was in the vanguard of the “Nashville Sound,” a 1950s

and 1960s movement that blended traditional country music with a

style having a broader popular appeal. Many of her songs, including

“Walkin’ After Midnight,” “Crazy,” and “I Fall to Pieces,” became top

hits on both the pop and country charts. For three consecutive years,

Cline was the nation’s most popular female country music artist, and even her early death in a

1963 plane crash could not diminish her popularity and her influence on other singers. In 1973,

Cline was the first solo female performer elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Issued: 1993

CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS

BY WOMEN

Classic books in children’s literature include

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, by Kate Douglas

Wiggin (1856–1923), Little House on the

Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957),

and Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

(1832–1888). Wiggins’s tale of Rebecca

recounts the

adventures of a spirited young girl who is sent to live with two dignified

aunts in a New England town. Wilder’s book, which was the basis for a

highly successful television series in the 1970s and 1980s, is one in a

series based on the author’s childhood experiences on the American

frontier. Alcott’s Little Women is a story of four sisters that is loosely

based on Alcott’s own family life.

Issued: 1993

WOMEN ON STAMPS
26

WOMEN ON STAMPS

MILITARY MEDICS TREAT THE WOUNDED

During World War II, women served as medics and nurses in all

branches of the armed forces. Stationed on the front lines in Europe,

North Africa, and the Pacific, they provided aid and comfort to the

wounded while themselves enduring hardships, deprivation, and

enemy fire.

Issued: 1993

MAYBELLE ADDINGTON CARTER

(1909–1978)

SARA DOUGHERTY CARTER

(1898–1979)

Often called “the first family of country music,” The Carter Family

included cousins Maybelle and Sara Carter, along with Sara’s

husband, A.P. Carter. In 1927, they released their first of more than

300 records, many of which were traditional Appalachian folk songs and gospel hymns, such as

“Wildwood Flower” and “Can the Circle Be Unbroken.” Sara’s lead vocals brought a freshness to the

songs, and Maybelle (who had married A.P.’s brother) was an excellent guitarist who developed a

unique style of picking and strumming. In the mid-1930s, the group’s popularity spread nationwide

when they started playing at a Texas radio station that had a powerful signal reaching up to Canada.

Even after the group disbanded in the early 1940s, they continued to influence the evolution of

country music as well as the 1960s folk revival, and several of Maybelle’s children and grandchildren

became country music stars. In 1970, The Carter Family was the first group inducted into the Country

Music Hall of Fame.

Issued: 1993

ZASU PITTS

(ca. 1898–1963)

ZaSu Pitts began her film career as an extra, when she was discovered by

Mary Pickford and cast in movies such as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

Although Pitts played dramatic roles to much acclaim in the silent films

Greed and All Quiet on the Western Front, she is known mostly for comedic

roles, often as a flustered scatterbrain with a squeaky-high voice — in fact,

Max Fleischer, the creator of the Popeye cartoons, patterned the character

Olive Oyl after Pitts. In the 1930s Pitts starred in a series of short comedy

films with Thelma Todd, forming one of the few female comedy teams of that

era, and she continued her comedy roles in films, on stage, and in television

until the 1960s. 

Issued: 1994
WOMEN ON STAMPS

27

CLARA BOW

(1905–1965)

In the age of flappers and jazz, movie star Clara Bow became known as the

“It Girl” — a red-haired beauty whose large, expressive eyes, alluring

vivaciousness, charming sassiness, and natural warmth and wit won men’s

attention and influenced women’s fashion and style. In her relatively short

career, which began at 16 when she earned a movie role for winning a fan

magazine’s beauty contest, Bow made more than 50 films, both “silents” and

“talkies,” including 25 in just 2 years. Her popular screen roles as vixens in

movies such as Mantrap and It (which provided her with her famous

nickname) often belie the range and depth of emotions that are seen in films

such as Children of Divorce and Wings, which won the first Academy Award

for Best Picture. Bow helped to change women’s roles in the movie industry

and influenced the careers of many women actors who followed.

Issued: 1994

THEDA BARA

(1885–1955)

One of the most magnetic stars of the silent film era, Theda Bara

became infamous for her portrayals of a femme fatale — a beautiful,

seductive woman who lures men to depravity and decadence. In the

1915 film A Fool There Was, Bara starred as the man-destroying

woman known only as “the vampire,” giving rise to the term “vamp” to

describe a woman who charms men to exploit them. She continued this

role in many of her more than 40 films, including Cleopatra, Salome,

and Carmen. But Bara’s own favorite roles were those in which she

shed this typecast persona and played characters such as the tragic

teenager in Romeo and Juliet, a heroic legionnaire in Under Two Flags,

and an innocent peasant girl in Kathleen Mavourneen.

Issued: 1994
28

WOMEN ON STAMPS

ETHEL WATERS

(1896–1977)

Ethel Waters won acclaim for singing and dramatic performances on

radio, television, stage, and screen. Known as “the mother of modern

popular singing,” Waters began her career in vaudeville as a singer and

dancer and became an acclaimed jazz and pop singer in the 1920s and

1930s, introducing the song “Stormy Weather.” In the 1930s she transitioned into a successful career

on Broadway, where in the 1933 production of Irving Berlin’s As Thousands Cheer she is credited with

being the first African-American woman to receive equal billing with her white co-stars. She received

an Academy Award nomination for the film Pinky in 1949 and a New York Drama Critics’ Award for

Member of the Wedding in 1950. In later years, Waters performed religious music for evangelist

Billy Graham, making famous the song “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”

Issued: 1994

ETHEL MERMAN

(1908–1984)

By the age of 21, Ethel Merman made her way to the Broadway stage,

which she would dominate for decades with her big, penetrating voice and

brassy, unrestrained style. On first hearing her, George Gershwin cast

Merman in his 1930 show Girl Crazy, and her rendition of the song “I Got

Rhythm” became an instant hit and vaulted her to stardom overnight. During the next 40 years, she

starred in a string of smash Broadway musicals, including Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun (based

on the life of Annie Oakley and written by Dorothy Fields), Call Me Madam, Gypsy, and Hello Dolly.

Merman’s movie career includes There’s No Business Like Show Business, a revue of Irving Berlin tunes

featuring the title song that she had made famous on stage.

Issued: 1994

BESSIE SMITH

(ca. 1894–1937)

“The empress of the blues,” Bessie Smith reigned in the 1920s across

the United States and Europe, bringing blues music to audiences of all

backgrounds. She started as a street musician in Chattanooga,

Tennessee, and toured in her teens with vaudeville star “Ma” Rainey.

In 1923, her debut album, Down Hearted Blues, was a huge success, and many critics consider her

rendition of “St. Louis Blues” with Louis Armstrong to be one of the finest recordings of the 1920s.

Smith recorded more than 100 blues and popular songs, but tragically her life was cut short by an

automobile accident in 1937.

Issued: 1994
WOMEN ON STAMPS

29

“MA” RAINEY

(1886–1939)

Born Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett, “Ma” Rainey is considered the

“mother of the blues” for her great impact on developing and

popularizing the genre in its early years. She first appeared on stage

around 1900 in minstrel and vaudeville shows. Later she and her

husband, William “Pa” Rainey, formed a song-and-dance act and began to offer audiences a different

kind of music — a plaintive sound she dubbed “the blues.” As this new style caught on, Rainey’s

fame grew. She recorded 100 songs between 1923 and 1928 for Paramount Records. Early in her

career, Rainey befriended, coached, and toured with Bessie Smith, who adopted her mentor’s music

style and became a famous blues singer herself. Rainey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of

Fame in 1990. 

Issued: 1994

BILLIE HOLIDAY

(1915–1959)

Born Eleanora Fagan, Billie Holiday was one of the most influential jazz

singers of her time and a headline attraction for most of her career. She

was a technical and artistic virtuoso, using her voice like an instrument

in improvisational solos. Nicknamed “Lady Day,” she brought a

distinctive light timbre and graceful phrasing to her music, even when

singing popular tunes about heartbreak and despair. In the late 1930s,

Holiday’s many solo hits, such as “God Bless the Child” and “Strange

Fruit,” became standard tunes for generations of singers to follow.

Issued: 1994

MILDRED BAILEY

(1907–1951)

With her sweet, high-pitched, and flexible voice, Mildred Bailey was 

one of the most popular female vocalists of the 1930s. In 1929, she 

joined the Paul Whiteman orchestra, becoming the first featured female

vocalist to tour with a major national dance band, and 3 years later

gained fame by recording her signature song, “Rockin’ Chair.” She and husband/xylophonist Red

Norvo, together known as “Mr. and Mrs. Swing,” had their own CBS radio program and produced

many recordings together. Health problems forced Bailey to retire in the mid-1940s, and after a short

return to performing, Bailey died at the age of 44 in 1951.

Issued: 1994
30

WOMEN ON STAMPS

ANNIE OAKLEY

(1860–1926)

Known as “Little Miss Sure Shot,” Annie Oakley could hit a dime in midair

from 90 feet and shoot a playing card in half — at 30 paces with the edge

toward her. At age 15, Oakley won a shooting competition with well-known

marksman Frank Butler, whom she later married. From 1885 to 1902, her

stunt-shooting skills made her a leading attraction in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West

Show. When the show toured Europe in 1890, her skill attracted the attention

of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, who challenged her to shoot a cigarette out of his hand. True to

her reputation, she did so without harming him. Oakley’s life was the basis for the 1946 Broadway

musical Annie Get You Gun, which was written by Dorothy Fields and starred Ethel Merman.

Issued: 1994

NELLIE CASHMAN

(ca. 1850–1925)

Known as the “frontier angel,” Irish-born Nellie Cashman made her

reputation in the western U.S. and Canada as a successful prospector,

businesswoman, and philanthropist. During the Cassiar gold rush in British

Columbia in 1875, Cashman and six men loaded sleds with 1,500 pounds

of supplies and completed a long journey in heavy snows to a remote

mining camp, arriving in time to nurse almost 100 sick miners back to health. She later moved to

Tombstone, Arizona, where she opened the town’s first woman-owned business (a restaurant) and

became a prominent citizen, building a church and raising money for social welfare and the arts.

When her sister died from tuberculosis, Cashman cared for her sister’s five children. When Cashman

died, newspapers as far away as the New York Times wrote obituaries citing her good works.

Issued: 1994

VIRGINIA APGAR

(1909–1974)

Dr. Virginia Apgar was a pioneer in the fields of obstetrics and anesthesiology.

She is best known for developing a simple assessment tool that helps

delivery-room doctors and nurses evaluate a newborn’s general condition.

This method, known as the “Apgar score,” has helped medical professionals

worldwide identify infants in need of immediate medical attention. Apgar was

also the first female professor of anesthesiology and the first female physician to hold a full

professorship in the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Her 1973 book Is My

Baby All Right? served as a guide for parents concerned about possible birth defects in their children.

Issued: 1994
WOMEN ON STAMPS

31

BESSIE COLEMAN

(1892–1926)

Bessie Coleman was the first African American to receive an international

pilot’s license, which she earned in France after being denied entry into flight

schools in the United States. She returned to the United States and performed

in air shows as a stunt flyer, but refused to appear in shows that denied

admission to African Americans. Her goal was to establish a flight school for

African Americans, but she died in a plane accident while preparing for a show

to raise money for the cause. Although she did not live to realize her dream,

she paved the way for many men and women to follow in her footsteps.

Issued: 1995

MARILYN MONROE

(1926–1962)

Screen legend Marilyn Monroe left a legacy of films, including such boxoffice hits as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, The

Seven Year Itch, and The Misfits. Born Norma Jean Mortenson (sometimes

using the last name “Baker”), Monroe was working in a munitions plant in

1944 when she was photographed for a news story about women in the war

effort, and this launched her on a modeling career. Soon the 20th Century

Fox movie studio hired her, and after many small parts, she gained fame for

her singing and dancing roles. In 1959, she won a Golden Globe award for

her comedic role in Some Like It Hot.

Issued: 1995

MARY CHESNUT

(1823–1913)

Confederate diarist Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut wrote one of the finest 

literary and historical works of the Civil War. Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, as 

the collection of her diaries is known, describes life on her plantation in

South Carolina and recounts many key events that occurred in Charleston,

South Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, during the war. Chestnut provided

more than just gripping personal observations and experiences — because

her husband had been a U.S. senator before the war and a Confederate congressman and aide to

Confederate President Jefferson Davis during the war, Chestnut was in a unique position to witness

the events of her day and offer valuable insights to the people and workings of the Confederate

government.

Issued: 1995
32

WOMEN ON STAMPS

PHOEBE PEMBER

(1823–1913)

Daughter of a prosperous family from Charleston, South Carolina,

Phoebe Yates Levy Pember was one of the first women to enter the

previously all-male domain of nursing. After moving to Richmond,

Virginia, upon the death of her husband in 1862, Pember was recruited

by Mrs. George Randolph, wife of the Confederate secretary of war, to

serve as nurse and administrator at Chimborazo Military Hospital, which

treated more patients than any other military hospital in the country, North or South. After the

war, Pember vividly documented her experiences in her memoir, A Southern Woman’s Story.

Issued: 1995

ALICE HAMILTON

(1869–1970)

Dr. Alice Hamilton’s pioneering work in the field of industrial medicine

contributed to the passage of early worker’s compensation laws. In the

1902 Chicago typhoid epidemic, Hamilton discovered a connection

between improper sewage disposal and disease transmission, and she later

noted a relationship between immigrant health problems and unsafe

working conditions, including exposure to noxious chemicals. In 1910, she was appointed director of

the Illinois Occupational Disease Commission, the first organization of its kind, and in 1919 she

became the first female faculty member of Harvard Medical School. Hamilton was a consultant to the

U.S. government and the League of Nations, and in 1947 she received the U.S. Public Health

Association’s Lasker Award.

Issued: 1995

RUTH BENEDICT

(1887–1948)

Ruth Benedict is considered one of the pre-eminent anthropologists of

the 20th century. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in

1923 and taught there for many years, becoming the first female full professor

in the Department of Anthropology in 1948. Her formative fieldwork was

conducted among the American Indians of the desert Southwest, and during

World War II she analyzed Japanese culture as a consultant to the Office of War Information. Based in

part on this work, Benedict published two best-sellers — Patterns of Culture, an introduction to the

field of anthropology, and The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, an exploration of Japanese culture

from the 7th century through the mid-20th century.

Issued: 1995
WOMEN ON STAMPS

33

ALICE PAUL

(1885–1977)

Alice Paul was one of the primary architects of the campaign for women’s

right to vote. With a Ph.D. in social work from the University of

Pennsylvania and training in civil disobedience from British suffrage

leaders, she founded the National Woman’s Party in the United States and

organized massive pro-suffrage demonstrations, including one that stole

the limelight from Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration in 1913. For the next 7 years, National

Woman’s Party leaders and others picketed outside the White House and were jailed — Paul

herself was imprisoned three times — until in 1920 the 19th amendment granting women the

right to vote was added to the U.S. Constitution. In the 1920s, Paul earned three law degrees, and

for the next 50 years, she strove to protect women from discrimination, working to include equal

gender rights in the United Nations Charter and 1964 Civil Rights Act, and authoring and

promoting the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Issued: 1995

JACQUELINE COCHRAN

(1910–1980)

In 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break

the sound barrier. This pioneering aviator was also the first

woman to participate in the prestigious Bendix air race across

the U.S. (in 1935), to win the Bendix race (in 1938), to pilot a

bomber across the Atlantic, and to serve as president of the

Fédération Internationale Aéronautique. As director of the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots during

World War II, she trained other women aviators. Cochran was also a businesswoman — she had

founded a cosmetics company before becoming a pilot — and a writer, publishing her autobiography,

The Stars at Noon, in 1954. At the time of her death in 1980, Cochran held more speed, altitude, and

distance records than any other male or female pilot in aviation history.

Issued: 1996
34

WOMEN ON STAMPS

DOROTHY FIELDS

(1905–1974)

In a career spanning more than 40 years, Dorothy Fields entertained

millions with her lyrics for great American songs, including “On the

Sunny Side of the Street,” “Big Spender,” and “If My Friends Could

See Me Now.” In 1936, she won an Academy Award for best original

song for “The Way You Look Tonight,” the hit tune from Swing Time with Fred Astaire and Ginger

Rogers. In the 1940s, Fields conceived of and wrote the story line for Annie Get Your Gun, a smash

Broadway musical portraying the life of Annie Oakley and featuring Ethel Merman and music by Irving

Berlin. Fields was nominated for four Tony Awards, and in 1959 she shared in the award for best

musical for Redhead.

Issued: 1996

GEORGIA O’KEEFFE

(1887–1986)

Georgia O’Keeffe is regarded as one of the leading American

artists of the 20th century, best known for her dramatic and

sensual use of color and light in landscapes and cityscapes, and

for close-ups of flowers and clouds. Recognizing the genius in her

first abstract drawings, well-known photographer and art critic

Alfred Stieglitz became her benefactor and promoter. They married

in 1924. The view from their apartment in New York City and the natural environment of his Lake

George estate became the subjects of her paintings. O’Keeffe also had a lifetime fascination with the

American Southwest, where she lived for 35 years after Stieglitz’s death. The region’s beautiful but

often barren landscape inspired some of her most famous paintings. O’Keeffe lived to see a great

re-birth of interest in her work in the 1970s that continues to this day. The stamp reproduces her

1927 painting Red Poppy.

Issued: 1996
WOMEN ON STAMPS

35

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS AND RESEARCH

Breast cancer affects one out of eight women in the U.S., making it the

second most common form of cancer in American women, but early detection

and treatment can greatly increase the survival rate

of those affected. In 1998, the Postal Service issued

its first “semipostal” stamp, with revenues exceeding

the cost of First-Class Mail rates being used to

further breast cancer research conducted by the

National Institutes of Health and the Department of

Defense Medical Research Program. Through 2002, the Postal Service had

sold more than 421 million of these semipostal stamps, thereby raising

almost $30 million for research. 

Issued: 1996 and 1998

LILY PONS

(1898–1976)

French-American opera singer Lily Pons was famous for her coloratura

soprano voice and her technical skill. She studied piano at the Paris

Conservatory before making her formal operatic debut in Lamké in 1928

in Mulhouse, France. From the moment in 1931 that she made her

American debut in Lucia di Lammermore at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, Pons was an

immediate success. For nearly 30 years, Pons remained with the Metropolitan and delighted music

lovers both on the opera stage and also in three films, including That Girl From Paris.

Issued: 1997

ROSA PONSELLE

(1897–1981)

While singing in vaudeville in 1921, Rosa Ponselle was discovered by

tenor Enrico Caruso and became the leading dramatic soprano at the

New York Metropolitan Opera, debuting as Leonora opposite Caruso’s

Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino. Ponselle remained at the

Metropolitan for nearly two decades. Her exceptional voice earned her a

wide range of operatic roles in productions such as Verdi’s Don Carlos, Spontini’s Vestale, and

Weber’s Oberon. In 1927, Ponselle assumed the title role in Bellini’s highly acclaimed Norma.

Issued: 1997
GIBSON GIRL

Created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, the “Gibson Girl” set the fashion

for the ideal American woman from about 1895 to 1914. Aloof yet accessible,

the Gibson Girl was self-confident, independent, and feminine. She was

equally at home on the tennis court or golf course as in the tea parlor. With

an hour-glass figure and her long hair piled gracefully atop her head, the

Gibson Girl was the epitome of elegance and American free spirit.

Illustrations of the Gibson Girl adorned the covers of popular magazines

such as Life and Harper’s.

Issued: 1998

MARY BRECKINRIDGE

(1881–1965)

Nurse-midwife Mary Breckinridge helped to modernize health care in rural

America. Breckinridge traveled to Europe during World War I to volunteer

with the American Committee for Devastated France. There she studied under

and was inspired by the skill and professionalism of the European nursemidwives. Appalled by the high maternal death rate in America, Breckinridge

founded the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) in Kentucky in 1925. Within the first 5 years, she and her

network of trained midwives reached hundreds of Appalachian families, delivering babies and

providing prenatal care and nutrition counseling. By 1930, the FNS had six rural outposts. Since its

inception, more than 64,000 rural women, children, and families have used FNS services.

Issued: 1998

MARGARET MEAD

(1901–1978)

Anthropologist, professor, and writer Margaret Mead explored gender

roles, women’s issues, and the effect of culture on the behavior and

personalities of children and adolescents. Her findings were based on

field research she conducted in Samoa, Bali, and New Guinea. Mead

applied principles of economics and psychology to anthropology to

demonstrate how modern society can look to primitive cultures to better

understand its behaviors. A prolific writer, Mead published 44 books and more than 1,000 articles.

Her best-selling first book, Coming of Age in Samoa, explains how American parents could mitigate

rebellious adolescent behavior by studying Samoan child-rearing techniques. From 1926 until her

death, Mead worked in the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History,

serving in various capacities including curator of ethnology and curator emeritus.

Issued: 1998

36

WOMEN ON STAMPS
WOMEN ON STAMPS

37

POPULAR DANCES OF THE 20TH CENTURY

The dance styles of the Charleston, the jitterbug, and disco reflect

advances in women’s social freedom in the 20th century and stand as

symbols for their generations. The 1920s gave rise to the exuberant

Charleston and a new era for women — when flappers shed their

corsets, shortened their skirts, bobbed their hair, and kicked up their

heels in new-found freedom from Victorian-era social strictures.

Evolving from Swing music in the 1930s, the jitterbug and its fast-paced

acrobatics underwent various stylistic changes over the years, with a

toned-down version being popularized on the 1950s TV show American

Bandstand. In the 1970s, the disco craze paralleled a time of massive

social change, when women rebelled against conventions and explored

nontraditional roles throughout society.

Issued: 1998 and 1999

AMERICA SURVIVES THE DEPRESSION

By 1933, unemployment in the U.S. had skyrocketed to 25 percent, and

the average employee wage was 60 percent less than it had been in 1929.

During the Depression, the percentage of women in the workforce rose as

wives tried to supplement their husbands’ income to provide for families.

Dorothea Lange’s 1936 photograph of Native American Florence

Thompson Owens, a 32-year-old migrant worker with seven children,

symbolizes both the concern and courage of American women as they

tried to survive the hard times of the Great Depression. (See also Dorothea

Lange, page 45.)

Issued: 1998
38

WOMEN ON STAMPS

MAHALIA JACKSON

(1911–1972)

Full-throated soprano Mahalia Jackson, called the “queen of gospel

music,” helped make this music genre popular to a secular audience.

Through performances on radio and television, she brought gospel

music to diverse listeners in the U.S. and abroad, and her 1958 gospel

hit “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” was one of the bestselling songs of the year. Jackson’s audiences included Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy as well

as the king and queen of Denmark. At the 1963 March on Washington, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

requested that Jackson sing “I Been ’Buked and I Been Scorned” just before he delivered his famous

“I Have a Dream” speech. Jackson also sang at King’s funeral in 1968. In 1972, Jackson received a

posthumous Lifetime Achievement Grammy.

Issued: 1998

ROBERTA MARTIN

(1907–1969)

Roberta Martin, the gifted and versatile leader of the Roberta Martin

Singers, was blessed with a glorious contralto voice and was also an

accomplished pianist, composer, and music publisher. Always in

demand, the Roberta Martin Singers performed for audiences

throughout the U.S. and Europe. Martin dedicated her life to gospel

music, recording some 100 compositions and 280 gospel songs. Among Martin’s most popular

recordings were “Try Jesus, He Satisfies,” “Amazing Grace,” and “If You Pray.”

Issued: 1998

CLARA WARD

(1924–1973)

Clara Ward was the creative force behind the Ward Singers (later the

Clara Ward Singers), often acknowledged as America’s greatest gospel

group. Ward was a celebrated and accomplished composer, pianist,

singer, and arranger, and she and her group helped transform the

gospel genre by using creative stage arrangements, wearing colorful costumes, and playing at

unconventional venues. A 1957 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival introduced the Clara Ward

Singers — and gospel music — to a secular audience. Her song “Surely God Is Able” became one

of the highest selling gospel records of all time. 

Issued: 1998
WOMEN ON STAMPS

39

SISTER ROSETTA THARPE

(1915–1973)

The daughter of a spiritual singer, Sister Rosetta Tharpe established a

reputation as a singer-evangelist in Chicago before moving to Harlem,

where she became known for her electrifying performances in theaters,

nightclubs, and churches. A brilliant guitarist and gospel singer,

Tharpe performed in swing orchestras with musical greats Benny

Goodman and Count Basie. She also recorded many popular vocal duets, including “Up Above My

Head” with Marie Knight in 1947.

Issued: 1998

MADAM C.J. WALKER

(1867–1919)

Born Sarah Breedlove, the daughter of former slaves, Madam C.J. Walker

became a beauty products pioneer and one of the nation’s first female

millionaires. In the early 1900s, using her husband’s name (Charles Joseph

Walker), she developed a very successful business manufacturing hair

goods and preparations, and her company eventually became one of the

country’s largest businesses owned by an African American. Walker also

became one of the era’s leading African-American philanthropists and

political activists, strongly supporting education, charitable institutions,

political rights, and economic opportunities for African Americans and women.

Issued: 1998

LILA WALLACE

(1889–1984)

Lila Wallace and her husband, DeWitt, founded the world-famous

Reader’s Digest in 1922. Today, 15 million people worldwide

subscribe to Reader’s Digest, which appears in 48 editions and 

19 languages. The Wallaces matched their extraordinary publishing

success with remarkable generosity, donating millions to charitable

causes in education, arts, and music. In 1972 they were awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal

of Freedom for their contributions to the print medium, business, and philanthropy. To date,

the Wallace Reader’s Digest Funds have awarded nearly $2 billion in grants.

Issued: 1998
40

WOMEN ON STAMPS

BALLET

Originating in Italy centuries ago, ballet has become an internationally

acclaimed dance form that combines flexibility, balance, strength, and

grace. Most dance roles were played by men until 1681, when French

danseuse Mademoiselle de Lafontaine performed in Le Triomphe de

l’Amour. In the 18th century, dancer Marie Camargo introduced shortened

skirts and slippers that allowed women greater freedom of movement to

do jumps traditionally reserved for men. During the 19th century,

numerous female ballet dancers achieved fame, including Carlotta Grisi, the first woman to dance

Giselle, and Marie Taglioni, whose 1832 performance in La Sylphide inaugurated the Romantic

Ballet era. Great ballerinas of the 20th century include classic Russian ballet dancer Ana Pavlova

and dancer-choreographer Martha Graham, who influenced the modern dance style of the 1930s.

Pre-eminent modern-day dancers include Judith Jamison, known for her 1971 solo Cry, a tribute to

African-American women, and Balanchine protégé Suzanne Farrell.

Issued: 1998

EMILY POST’S ETIQUETTE

(1873–1960)

Born into an affluent and socially prominent Baltimore family, Emily

Post defined modern good manners and conduct for Americans of all

classes. Her books, radio programs, and syndicated newspaper

column, “Social Problems,” set the standard for etiquette throughout

the 20th century. In 1922, Post published Etiquette: The Blue Book of

Social Usage, which quickly became a best-seller and is now in its

16th edition. In 1946, Post founded the Emily Post Institute, which

today continues to measure decorum and social graces in American society.

Issued: 1998

LYNN FONTANNE

(1887–1983)

American actor and comedian Lynn Fontanne and her

husband, Alfred Lunt, formed a captivating couple in

entertainment. Their magic and versatility as a team led them

to perform on stage and in film together from 1924 to 1960.

Some of their best-known stage works include The Guardsman,

Design for Living, There Shall Be No Light, and The Visit. In 1931, they appeared together in the film

adaptation of The Guardsman, for which they received Academy Award nominations. 

Issued: 1999
WOMEN ON STAMPS

41

AYN RAND

(1905–1982)

Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand, who immigrated to the U.S. in

1926, became a well-known author after the success of her best-selling

novels Fountainhead in 1943 and Atlas Shrugged in 1957. Raised in

Russia during the Bolshevik revolution, Rand witnessed the Communist

government confiscate her father’s business and leave the family

impoverished. As a student, she watched as Communists took over the

University of Petrograd and prohibited free speech. These experiences

led Rand to despise collectivist political systems and to develop her own

philosophy called “objectivism,” which embodies principles of capitalism, rational self-interest,

and reason. Her beliefs about independent thought and individualism earned her a large following

that continues to thrive today.

Issued: 1999

LUCILLE BALL

(1911–1989)

Lucille Ball was a star of radio, stage, television, and film who endeared

herself to generations of fans worldwide with her wit, charm, and

amazing ability for physical comedy. Known as “America’s queen of

comedy,” Ball is best remembered for her portrayal of Lucy Ricardo in

the 1950s TV series I Love Lucy. Teaming Ball with her real-life husband,

Desi Arnaz, the enormously popular show broke new ground in

broadcast shows by depicting an American wife with a Cuban husband

and having episodes based on the wife’s pregnancy. Ball and Arnaz had

cofounded Desilu Productions to run their show, and when she took over

the company in the early 1960s, she became the only woman to own and

run a Hollywood production company at that time. The company also

produced many other popular television series, including Ball’s later

comedies The Lucy Show and Here’s Lucy and classics such as Make

Room for Daddy, The Untouchables, and Star Trek.

Issued: 1999 and 2001
42

WOMEN ON STAMPS

WOMEN’S RIGHTS MOVEMENT

In Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, some 300 reformers drafted a

declaration calling for equal rights for women in areas such as suffrage,

property ownership, child custody, education, and employment. Despite

public criticism, the movement gained momentum, and American women

achieved several milestones — for instance, New York and other states

began to expand women’s rights to own real property, and in 1920, the

19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted suffrage to women. The movement gained increased

momentum in the 1960s, and women secured government protections in areas such as employment.

Backed by the political clout of grassroots and national groups such as the National Organization for

Women, the women’s rights movement continues to fight for the equality of women in the United

States and abroad.

Issued: 1999

PATRICIA ROBERTS HARRIS

(1924–1985)

Patricia Roberts Harris had a long, distinguished career as a lawyer, 

educator, and public administrator. Harris’s career in education centered on

Howard University, where she served as a full professor and as dean of the 

law school. She later served in Luxembourg as the first African-American 

U.S. ambassador and as an alternate delegate to the United Nations General

Assembly and Economic Commission for Europe. Harris also became the

first African-American woman appointed as a member of a presidential

cabinet, serving as secretary of both the Department of Housing and Urban

Development and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Issued: 2000

LOUISE NEVELSON

(1899–1988) 

Considered one of the most gifted sculptors of the 20th century, Louise

Nevelson produced an impressive and influential body of work during her

50-year career. Inspired by cubist, surrealist, American Indian, preColumbian, and African art, Nevelson introduced a new style of sculpture.

Her work consisted of geometrically carved, recycled, and painted wood

objects arranged in stacked boxes to form sculptural walls. The Postal

Service issued a five-stamp series featuring Nevelson’s works, including this

stamp showing a detail from her sculpture titled “Silent Music I.”

Issued: 2000
WOMEN ON STAMPS

43

HATTIE W. CARAWAY

(1878–1950)

Arkansas Senator Hattie W. Caraway achieved several political “firsts,”

including being the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. Caraway had

initially been appointed to that body on November 13, 1931, a few days after

the death of her husband, Senator Thaddeus Caraway. On January 12, 1932,

she won a special election to fill the remaining months of his term and was

subsequently elected to two 6-year terms. In 1933, Caraway became the first

woman to chair a Senate committee (the Committee on Enrolled Bills) and in

1943 was the first woman in Congress to cosponsor the proposed Equal

Rights Amendment. After leaving the Senate, Caraway was appointed by

President Roosevelt to the Federal Employees’ Compensation Commission

and to the Employees’ Compensation Appeal Board.

Issued: 2001

FRIDA KAHLO

(1907–1954) 

Best known for her striking self-portraits, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was

influenced by pre-Columbian art and Mexican folk art. Her works embody the

pride of Mexico’s national patriotic movement, called “Mexicanidad,” that

pulsed throughout the country following the Mexican Revolution of the early

20th century. This sense of Mexican patriotism in Kahlo’s work has

significantly influenced Chicana artists in the United States. While a teenager,

Kahlo sustained serious injuries in a bus accident, which would affect her

health for the rest of her life. Triumph and suffering in her own life and in the

lives of women in general are recurrent themes in Kahlo’s paintings. Since the

mid-1970s, she has been a role model for women in the Mexican-American

and feminist communities.

Issued: 2001
44

WOMEN ON STAMPS

NEYSA MCMEIN

(1888–1949) 

Neysa McMein was one of the most popular and productive American

illustrators in the 1920s and 1930s. As a young woman, McMein pursued

multiple artistic avenues, including painting, acting, and music. In her midtwenties, after moving to New York City, she focused on creating illustrations

for magazine covers and commercial advertisements. She created all the

covers for McCall’s from 1923 to 1937 — the stamp replicates a portrait that

appeared as a McCall’s cover in 1932. Perhaps her most famous commercial design was the 1936

portrait of Betty Crocker, the fictional character that General Mills used to promote its baking products.

In the late 1930s, McMein became increasingly involved in portraiture, and her subjects included U.S.

presidents Harding and Hoover, actor Charlie Chaplin, and dirigible designer Ferdinand von Zeppelin.

Issued: 2001

ROSE O’NEILL

(1874–1944) 

Rose O’Neill was a self-trained artist who invented the whimsical, cupid-like

Kewpies in 1909 while illustrating for Ladies’ Home Journal. O’Neill

included these cute characters in many stories that she wrote and illustrated

for magazines, comic strips, and children’s books, including The Kewpies

and Dottie Darling and The Kewpies and the Runaway Baby. She also used

them in advertisements and other commercial products, such as Jell-O and

the Kewpies, a famous recipe booklet from 1915. O’Neill was also a talented sculptor, novelist, and

poet, and she had several exhibitions of her more serious artistic works in Paris and New York.

Issued: 2001

JESSIE WILLCOX SMITH

(1863–1935) 

Illustrator Jessie Willcox Smith specialized in nostalgic images of children

engaged in everyday activities. The postage stamp replicates her illustration

The First Lesson, which appeared on the December 1904 cover of Ladies'

Home Journal. Her work appeared on many magazines, and from December

1917 to March 1933, Smith created every cover — nearly 200 — for Good

Housekeeping. Smith is also remembered for her enchanting illustrations of

classic fairy tale characters including Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Little

Red Riding Hood, for illustrating children’s books such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden

of Verses and Charles Kingsley’s The Water-Babies, and for the beautiful illustrations in her own

famous book The Jessie Willcox Smith Mother Goose.

Issued: 2001
WOMEN ON STAMPS

45

IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM

(1883–1976) 

A photographer of exceptional sensibility and one of the founders of

modernist photography, Imogen Cunningham is best known for her

portraiture and her black-and-white photographic studies of plants and the

human form. In the 1920s, Cunningham began making sharply focused,

realistic photographs, which was a departure from the prevailing romantic

pictorial style. During the 1930s, she was a photographer for Vanity Fair.

Replicated on the postage stamp is Cunningham’s Age and Its Symbols, a 1958 work compelling for

its revealing personal intimacy.

Issued: 2002

GERTRUDE KÄSEBIER

(1852–1934)

Eminent portrait photographer Gertrude Käsebier pioneered an evocative,

soft-focus “painterly” style that established her as a guiding force in the

pictorialist movement. Her best-known images are those of mothers and

children — the one replicated on the postage stamp is her 1899 work

Blessed Art Thou Among Women, a sensitive portrayal of children’s author

Agnes Lee and her daughter Peggy. In a stylistic shift, Käsebier helped found

Photo-Secession, a group that promoted photography as a unique art form with aesthetic qualities

not found in painting. Käsebier’s work also includes portraits of Native Americans, frontiersman

Buffalo Bill Cody, and sculptor Auguste Rodin.

Issued: 2002

DOROTHEA LANGE

(1895–1965) 

A deeply compassionate documentary photographer, Dorothea Lange is

best known for her compelling pictures of the unemployed and uprooted

victims of the Great Depression. With an empathetic eye, she recorded not

only their impoverished circumstances but also their fortitude and spirit.

Featured on the postage stamp is a 1935 work titled Ditched, Stalled, and

Stranded, San Joaquin Valley, California, which reflects Lange’s intimate

portrait style. Another of her photographs, Migrant Mother (see page 37), is a classic Depression-era

image that captures its subject’s inner strength in the face of hardship.

Issued: 2002
46

WOMEN ON STAMPS

NELLIE BLY

(1864–1922) 

Intrepid New York World reporter Nellie Bly was one of the first

female investigative journalists. Born Elizabeth Cochran, she

changed her name to Nellie Bly, the title character of a Stephen

Collins Foster song, at the request of her managing editor, who

believed it improper for women to write publicly using their real

names. Working undercover, Bly posed as an inmate and a patient to expose the poor conditions of

a prison and a women’s asylum in late 19th-century New York City. Inspired by Jules Verne’s

fictional story Around the World in 80 Days, in 1889 Bly traveled around the world — via boat,

train, rickshaw, and burro — in just 72 days, setting a world record and achieving worldwide fame

with her book about her adventure.

Issued: 2002

MARGUERITE HIGGINS

(1920–1966) 

Assigned to the U.S. Seventh Army in 1944, New York Herald

Tribune journalist Marguerite Higgins was with the Allied troops

when they liberated the Dachau and Buchenwald concentration

camps. In 1947, the Tribune promoted Higgins to be its Berlin

bureau chief, and 3 years later she was transferred to Japan to head

the newspaper’s Far East bureau. Higgins covered the Korean War from the front lines, and her

accounts won her a 1951 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting — she was the first woman to

receive that award — and led to her book War in Korea: The Report of a Woman Combat

Correspondent, a 1951 best-seller. Higgins’s daring coverage of War II, the Korean War, and the

Vietnam War advanced the cause of equal access for female war correspondents. 

Issued: 2002
WOMEN ON STAMPS

47

ETHEL L. PAYNE

(1911–1991) 

An internationally recognized writer and commentator, Ethel L. Payne

was a syndicated columnist and reporter for the Chicago Defender,

one of the leading African-American newspapers in the United States.

At a time when the media often avoided racial issues, Payne reported

on and crusaded against the unjust treatment of minorities. As a

war correspondent in Vietnam, she wrote about the segregation of African-American troops from

white troops. In 1972, Payne became the first female African-American commentator to be employed

by a national network (CBS) and to receive accreditation as a White House correspondent. In her

honor, the prestigious annual Ethel L. Payne International Award for Excellence in Journalism was

established in 1998. 

Issued: 2002

IDA M. TARBELL

(1857–1944) 

Ida M. Tarbell began her journalism career at McClure’s by writing

respected biographical accounts of Napoléon Bonaparte and

Abraham Lincoln. But Tarbell is best known for her painstakingly

researched exposé on John D. Rockefeller’s powerful Standard Oil

Company. Considered to be one of the greatest journalistic works of

the 20th century, her exposé was originally published by McClure’s

as a 19-part series starting in 1902, and in 1904 it was printed as a

book titled The History of the Standard Oil Company. Tarbell’s work was the catalyst leading to the

U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1911 decision to break up the Standard Oil monopoly. In 1922, the

New York Times named Tarbell one of America’s most admired women. 

Issued: 2002
48

ZORA NEALE HURSTON

(1891–1960) 

American writer, folklorist, and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston

was one of America’s most original artists. Hurston spent her

early years in Eatonville, Florida, which was the first incorporated

all-black town in the United States. In the 1920s, after studying

writing at Howard University, Hurston moved to New York City

and wrote stories, plays, and essays, contributing to the Harlem Renaissance along with other AfricanAmerican artists. Hurston also studied anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University, and

she conducted field research on African-American culture in several southern states and in the

Caribbean. Based on this research, Hurston wrote several anthropological books, including Mules

and Men (1935), and the vibrant folklore, mysticism, and dialect she encountered in her studies

inspired much of her fiction. Her best known novel is Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), the story

of an African-American woman who struggles against adversity and prevails by embracing selfsufficiency as the route to self-fulfillment. In later years, though, Hurston suffered setbacks in her

career and in her personal life, and she died impoverished. But in the 1970s, a new generation of

African-American scholars and writers, including Alice Walker, rediscovered and repopularized many

of her writings. In Hurston’s honor, the city of Eatonville, which had a strong influence in her works,

hosts an annual festival celebrating African-American arts and culture. 

Issued: 2003

AUDREY HEPBURN

(1929–1993)

As an actress, Audrey Hepburn won fame for her elegance and grace, and

later in life, she earned respect and admiration as a goodwill ambassador

for UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund). Hepburn first garnered

attention starring in Gigi on Broadway in 1951, and in 1954 she won a Tony

Award for Ondine. She is best remembered for her 1950s and 1960s films,

including such classics as Roman Holiday (for which she won an Academy

Award), Sabrina, The Nun’s Story, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Charade, My Fair

Lady, and Wait Until Dark. From 1988 until her death in 1993, Hepburn

worked tirelessly to help improve the lives of children, especially in war-torn areas — Hepburn knew

firsthand of such troubles, for she spent her teenage years in Nazi-occupied Holland, where she and

her family faced starvation, disease, and death. For her efforts, Hepburn received the Presidential

Medal of Freedom and an Academy Award for her humanitarian work. In 2002, UNICEF dedicated in

her honor a statue entitled “The Spirit of Audrey.”

Issued: 2003

WOMEN ON STAMPS
Adams, Abigail . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Addams, Jane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Alcott, Louisa May . . . . . . . . . . . .4

America, Mothers of . . . . . . . . . . .3

America, Surviving the

Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

America, Women’s Support

in World War II . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

American Revolution, 

Seamstress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

American Woman . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Anthony, Susan B. . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Apgar, Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Bailey, Mildred . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Ball, Lucille . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Ballet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Bara, Theda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Barrymore, Ethel . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Barton, Clara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Benedict, Ruth . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Bethune, Mary McLeod . . . . . . .20

Big Sisters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Bissell, Emily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Blackwell, Elizabeth . . . . . . . . . .12

Bly, Nellie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Bow, Clara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Breast Cancer Awareness 

and Research . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Breckinridge, Mary . . . . . . . . . . .36

Brice, Fanny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Buck, Pearl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Camp Fire Girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Caraway, Hattie W. . . . . . . . . . . .43

Carson, Rachel . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Carter, Maybelle Addington . . . .26

Carter, Sara Dougherty . . . . . . . .26

Cashman, Nellie . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Cassatt, Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Cather, Willa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Chesnut, Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Children’s Books by Women . . .25

Cline, Patsy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Cochran, Jacqueline . . . . . . . . .33

Coleman, Bessie . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Constitution, U.S. 

(19th Amendment) . . . . . . . . . .11

Cunningham, Imogen . . . . . . . . .45

Dances of the 20th Century . . . .37

Dare, Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Depression, America 

Survives the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Dickinson, Emily . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Dix, Dorothea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Earhart, Amelia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Fields, Dorothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Fontanne, Lynn . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

General Federation of 

Women’s Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Gibson Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Gilbreth, Lillian M. . . . . . . . . . . .19

Girl Scouts U.S.A. . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Gold Star Mothers . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Hamilton, Alice . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Harris, Patricia Roberts . . . . . . .42

Hepburn, Audrey . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Higgins, Marguerite . . . . . . . . . .46

Holiday, Billie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Homemakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Howe, Julia Ward . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Hurston, Zora Neale . . . . . . . . . .48

International Women’s Year . . . .13

Isabella, Queen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Jackson, Mahalia . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Kahlo, Frida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Käsebier, Gertrude . . . . . . . . . . .45

Keller, Helen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Kelly, Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Lange, Dorothea . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Lockwood, Belva Ann . . . . . . . .20

Low, Juliette Gordon . . . . . . . . . .5

Ludington, Sybil . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Lyon, Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Maass, Clara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Madison, Dolley . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Madison, Helene . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Martin, Roberta . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

McMein, Neysa . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Mead, Margaret . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Merman, Ethel . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Michael, Moina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Military Medics Treat 

the Wounded . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Military Service, Women in . . . . . .6

Millay, Edna St. Vincent . . . . . . .16

Mitchell, Margaret . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Monroe, Marilyn . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Moore, Marianne . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Moses, Anna Mary Robertson 

(“Grandma”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Mothers, American . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Mothers, Gold Star . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Nevelson, Louise . . . . . . . . . . . .42

19th Amendment 

(U.S. Constitution) . . . . . . . . . .11

Nursing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

O’Keeffe, Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . .34

O’Neill, Rose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Oakley, Annie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Parker, Dorothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Paul, Alice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Payne, Ethel L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Pember, Phoebe . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Perkins, Frances . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Pitts, ZaSu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Pocahontas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Pons, Lily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Ponselle, Rosa . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Post, Emily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Queen Isabella . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Quimby, Harriet . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Rainey, Gertrude Malissa Nix 

Pridgett (“Ma”) . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Rand, Ayn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Roosevelt, Eleanor . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Ross, Betsy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Sacagawea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Scott, Blanche Stuart . . . . . . . . .16

Seamstress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Semipostal Stamp, 

Breast Cancer Research . . . . .35

Smith, Bessie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Smith, Jessie Willcox . . . . . . . . .44

Stone, Lucy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Sullivan, Anne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Tarbell, Ida M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Tharpe, Sister Rosetta . . . . . . . .39

Truth, Sojourner . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Tubman, Harriet . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

20th Century, Popular 

Dances of the . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

U.S. Constitution, 

19th Amendment . . . . . . . . . . .11

Walker, Dr. Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Walker, Madam C.J. . . . . . . . . . .39

Wallace, Lila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Ward, Clara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Washington, Dinah . . . . . . . . . . .25

Washington, Martha . . . . . . . . . . .2

Waters, Ethel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Wells, Ida B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Wharton, Edith . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Wightman, Hazel . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Willard, Frances E. . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Women in Military Service . . . . . .6

Women Support America in 

World War II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Women, Progress of . . . . . . . . . . .4

Women’s Clubs, General 

Federation of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Women’s Rights Movement . . . .42

Women’s Year, International . . . .13

World War II, Gold Star 

Mothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

World War II, Military Medics 

Treat the Wounded . . . . . . . . .26

World War II, Women Support 

America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Zaharias, Mildred (“Babe”) 

Didrikson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

INDEX
Publication 512, April 2003

©2003 United States Postal Service