Buck & Carson

There are two women featured on the stamps here, both of whom were Twentieth Century writers, that I think have interesting stories: Pearl Buck and Rachel Carson. There are two other women, Dorothy Dix and Lillian Moller. I cover them on the next page.

Pearl Buck

Buck was a writer, best known for her novel, The Good Earth, for which she won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932. It’s the life stories of a farming couple living in China leading into the start of Communism and the rule of Mao Zedong. Buck spent most of her childhood in China – her parents were missionaries – and her earlier adult years in China. She wrote several more novels set in China. As a result, after having spent a few years in the U.S., she was denied entry back into China.

With the notariety she received from her writings and from her Nobel Prize, she founded a charity organization to help mixed race orphans from China in the U.S., to help the poor and homeless in China, and other people in need. She was also instrumental in getting the U.S. to recognize and support Taiwan and their independence from China.

Rachel Carson

Carson was an marine biologist. She worked for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries before becoming a writer.

Carson is best known for writing a series of three books about marine life. The first one, Under the Sea-Wind was published in 1941. It describes the lives of a shorebird on the Atlantic coast, a fish in the ocean, and an eel in a river that empties into the ocean. She personifies the animals and tells how they interact with other lifeforms.

The Sea Around Us was published in 1952. It tells the history of the oceans with poetic prose to teach scientific research and theories. The Edge of the Sea was first published in 1955. It describes the various lifeforms that can be found along the coast, such as in tidal pools, or in the sand.

She went on to write more books and articles on nature, in particular related to marine life. Her work was influential in the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency and many conservation efforts still today.

Note

Finding and getting all of these stamps was quite a struggle. There are so many increments of postage. I’m not sure logistically the point of having so many denominations, other than a desire to celebrate several famous Americans.

Contains 26 spots: own 26 – 26 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed May 16, 2025

Stamp Details

The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.

spot

own

catalog

subject

description

comment

Famous Americans Definitives

1.1	✓	1844	Dorothea Dix	1c (sep 1983) definitive, black
1.2	✓	1845	Igor Stravinsky	2c (nov 1982) definitive, brown black
1.3	✓	1846	Henry Clay	3c (jul 1983) definitive, olive
1.4	✓	1847	Carl Schurz	4c (jun 1983) definitive, violet
2.1	✓	1848	Pearl Buck	5c (jun 1983) definitive, brown
2.2	✓	1849	Walter Lippmann	6c (sep 1985) definitive, orange vermilion
2.3	✓	1850	Abraham Baldwin	7c (jan 1985) definitive, bright carmine red
2.4	✓	1851	General Henry Knox	8c (jul 1985) definitive, olive black
2.5	✓	1852	Sylvanus Thayer	9c (jun 1985) definitive, dark green
3.1	✓	1853	Richard Russel	10c (may 1984) definitive, prussian blue
3.2	✓	1854	Alden Partridge	11c (feb 1985) definitive, dark blue
3.3	✓	1855	Crazy Horse	13c (jan 1982) definitive, light chestnut
3.4	✓	1856	Sinclair Lewis	14c (mar 1985) definitive, slate green
3.5	✓	1857	Rachel Carson	17c (may 1981) definitive, green
4.1	✓	1858	George Mason	18c (may 1981) definitive, dark blue
4.2	✓	1859	Sequoyah	19c (dec 1980) definitive, brown
4.3	✓	1860	Ralph Bunche	20c (jan 1982) definitive, claret
4.4	✓	1861	Thomas H. Gallaudet	20c (jun 1983) definitive, green
4.5	✓	1862	Harry S. Truman	20c (jan 1984) definitive, black
5.1	✓	1863	John J. Audubon	22c (apr 1985) definitive, dark blue & dark grey blue
5.2	✓	1864	Dr. Frank C. Laubach	30c (sep 1984) definitive, olive grey
5.3	✓	1865	Charles Drew	35c (jun 1981) definitive, grey
5.4	✓	1866	Robert Millikan	37c (jan 1982) definitive, blue
6.1	✓	1867	Grenville Clark	39c (mar 1985) definitive, pink lilac
6.2	✓	1868	Lillian M. Gilbreth	40c (feb 1984) definitive, dark green & black green
6.3	✓	1869	Chester William Nimitz	50c (feb 1985) definitive, brown

Footnotes

Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.