Somewhat amazingly, today’s stamp celebrates one of the most shameful episodes in American history. The 3-cent stamp issued on October 15, 1948 says “Indian Centennial” followed by a list of five tribes—Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole – and then at the bottom, the statement “The Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma.” So apparently, this is […]

While yesterday’s stamp, which celebrated the Future Farmers of America, presented a bucolic picture of agricultural life, today’s honors a man who played a key role in the mechanization of agricultural, a shift that in many respects fostered the decline of family farms and the industrialization of America. The honoree, who is pictured on a

Like many of my generation, I learned that Robert E. Lee was special. Yes, we were taught that Lee fought for the Confederacy, which wanted to preserve slavery. But that uncomfortable fact was downplayed in favor of a narrative that instead highlighted both Lee’s military prowess and his strength of character, particularly his efforts to

Although she died almost 60 years, Eleanor Roosevelt still offers important wisdom and guidance for those trying to address our current concerns. Roosevelt, who was born on October 11, 1884, was pictured on today’s #stampoftheday, a 5-cent stamp issued in October 1963, about 11 months after she died. Roosevelt’s story has been told by many

In this time, when we get frustrated if an email doesn’t appear within a few seconds, today’s #stampoftheday reminds us that communicating over long distances used to take days, even months. In doing so, it also underscores the importance of a functioning and timely postal system that hopefully will be deliver mail-in ballots in a

Today’s #stampoftheday honors a pianist, a composer, a prime minister, a political activist, a philanthropist, and a noted vintner. Amazingly, though, they’re all the same person, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, who, among other things was prime minister of Poland, a concert pianist who once packed Madison Square Garden and is still the only Pole to have

Once upon a time, in a parallel American universe, there was an accidental president who was expected to reflect the worst of his country’s politics, but instead embraced professional, non-partisan governance. The accidental president was Chester Alan Arthur, who is the subject of today’s #stampoftheday because he was born on October 5, 1829. He’s pictured

Edgar Allan Poe, author of “The Masque the Red Death”, makes a bizarrely timely appearance as today’s #stampoftheday. Poe, who is known today for his chilling tales of horror and haunting poems, was featured on a 3-cent stamp issued on October 7, 1949, which was the 100th anniversary of his death. This choice presents two