Stamp of the Day

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 a …

I ended yesterday's #stampoftheday post by asking "What were they thinking?" when they issued a stamp celebrating the forced relocation of Native Americans. Today, however, it's clear "what they were thinking" when the Post Office issued three "National Defense" stamps on October 16, 1940 (which is why the stamps are today's #stampoftheday). "They" - particularly President Franklin …

"The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National guitar," sings Paul Simon at the start of "Graceland," his marvelous 1986 song. "I am following the river, down the highway, through the cradle of the Civil War. I am going to Graceland, Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee." That road, presumably, was the Great River Road (GRR), which is …

Although my parents always voted (almost always, I think, for Democrats), they weren't political. They didn't work on campaigns, go to rallies or become involved in the civil rights or anti-war movements. And, with one exception, I never heard them speak highly of any national politician. The exception was Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee for president …

A bear so famous that he needed his own Zip Code to handle all his fan mail lurks behind the scenes of today' #stampoftheday, a 4-cent stamp honoring Forest Conservation that was issued on October 26, 1958. It was released in conjunction with the American Forestry Association's annual meeting. It also marked the 100th anniversary …

In August 21, 1945, my father, along with almost 15,000 other soldiers, was on the Queen Mary, which was one of the first ships to bring soldiers back from Europe at the end of World War II. As the ship approached New York Harbor, the soldiers saw a familiar and welcome sight—the Statue of Liberty. …

In 1993, when it grappled with fundamental questions the state's educational finance system, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court used language from the state's more than 200-year old constitution as the basis for a groundbreaking decision that forced the state to give much more aid to its poorest cities and towns. That clause was written by …

Very few stamps were issued during first years of World War II and most that were issued related directly to the war and the war effort. But one of the handful that were issued was today's #stampoftheday, a 3-cent stamp issued on October 31, 1944 honoring the 50th anniversary of motion pictures. (The event commemorated …

Officially, I voted for the first time, in 1976. Unofficially, I had been voting for years. My mother used to bring me with her when she voted in the gymnasium at the Lincoln Elementary School in Summit, where I grew up. I have vivid memories of the mechanical voting machines and the curtains that surrounded them. …