Famous Americans

This set of stamps aren’t very attractive looking. Although the drawings of the people are good, I don’t like the colors used and I don’t care for the frames, which aren’t unique to each person. They’re nothing like the quality of the 1902 series or even the 1922 series. However, what I do like about these stamps is that they’re the first set to highlight primarily people other than politicians and military leaders.

There are musicians, scientists, and educators. There are several writers and poets: Washington Irving, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Samuel Clemens. There are also a few women, the first since Martha Washington: Louisa Mae Alcott, Frances Willard, and Jane Addams. And there’s the first black man depicted on a stamp, Booker T. Washington.

Booker T. Washington

He was born into slavery in 1856 in Virginia, but in 1865 he was freed by federal troops, under the Emancipation Proclamation. He went to college and later became head of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama – which would become Tuskegee University.

Booker Washington spoke at many conferences and thereby became well known. He wrote an autobiography in 1901 called, Up from Slavery that made him a national figure. He went on to write, edit, and publish several other books and essays.

Note

I don’t particularly like the look of these. The colors are too much, too dark maybe. But I do appreciate they’re not celebrating Presidents. In the late 1980s they’ll do another similar series of prominent Americans: New Greats, High-End Greats, and Apgar & White. Of course, there’s also Freedomists in the late 1950s and Prominent Americans in the late 1960s, but those had Presidents and not so many of that weren’t founders and Presidents.

Contains 25 spots: own 25 – 25 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed Mar 21, 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

Novelists, Playwrights & Poets

1.1	✓	859	Washington Irving	1c (jan 1940) comm., bright blue green
1.2	✓	860	James Fenimore Cooper	2c (jan 1940) comm., pink carmine
1.3	✓	861	Ralph Waldo Emerson	3c (feb 1940) comm., bright red violet
1.4	✓	862	Louisa May Alcott	5c (feb 1940) comm., ultramarine
1.5	✓	863	Samuel Clemens	10c (feb 1940) comm., dark brown
2.1	✓	864	Henry Wadsworth Longfellow	1c (feb 1940) comm., bright blue green
2.2	✓	865	John Greenleaf Whittier	2c (feb 1940) comm., pink carmine
2.3	✓	866	James Russell Lowell	3c (feb 1940) comm., bright red violet
2.4	✓	867	Walt Whitman	5c (feb 1940) comm., ultramarine
2.5	✓	868	James Whitcomb Riley	10c (feb 1940) comm., dark brown

Professors, Teachers & Other Educators

3.1	✓	869	Horace Mann	1c (mar 1940) comm., bright blue green
3.2	✓	870	Mark Hopkins	2c (mar 1940) comm., pink carmine
3.3	✓	871	Charles W. Eliot	3c (mar 1940) comm., bright red violet
3.4	✓	872	Frances E. Willard	5c (mar 1940) comm., ultramarine
3.5	✓	873	Booker T. Washington	10c (apr 1940) comm., dark brown

Science & Scientists

4.1	✓	874	John James Audubon	1c (apr 1940) comm., bright blue green
4.2	✓	875	Dr. Crawford W. Long	2c (apr 1940) comm., pink carmine
4.3	✓	876	Luther Burbank	3c (apr 1940) comm., bright red violet
4.4	✓	877	Dr. Walter Reed	5c (apr 1940) comm., ultramarine
4.5	✓	878	Jane Addams	10c (apr 1940) comm., dark brown

Musical Composers & Performers

5.1	✓	879	Stephen Collins Foster	1c (may 1940) comm., bright blue green
5.2	✓	880	John Philip Sousa	2c (may 1940) comm., pink carmine
5.3	✓	881	Victor Herbert	3c (may 1940) comm., bright red violet
5.4	✓	882	Edward A. MacDowell	5c (may 1940) comm., ultramarine
5.5	✓	883	Ethelbert Nevin	10c (jun 1940) comm., dark 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.