The ASALH Website is a project of the ASALH Publication Committee, Daryl Michael Scott, Chair.  

Direct comments to
phughes@asalh.net
Phone: 202-865-0053
Fax: 202-265-7920

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History
C.B.Powell Building, Suite C-142
525 Bryant Street, NW
Washington, DC 20059

Page revised 02/26/2008
ASALH and the
United States Postal Service
Founders of Black History Month
The U.S. Postal Service and the
Association for the Study of African
American Life and History (ASALH),
the founders of Black History Month,
have been friends since Dr. Carter G.
Woodson appeared on a U.S.
postage stamp February 1, 1984. We
share a strong commitment and vision
as we educate the world about African
American life, history, and culture. For
the last few years, the Postal Service
has given ASALH members and
friends an exclusive unveiling of the
coveted Black Heritage stamp, which
is issued annually.  During the 92nd
annual ASALH convention in
Charlotte, N.C., a special unveiling
was held to premier the 2008 Black
Heritage stamp honoring pioneering
author and NAACP Spingarn Award
winner Charles W. Chesnutt.  The
Postal Service's Black Heritage
stamp series is truly alive and well.  
Continue reading to learn more about
the status of the series, past African
American stamp honorees, and the
upcoming Chesnutt stamp, which will
be issued in late January 2008.
From left, ASALH National President Dr. John Fleming, UNC
Charlotte Professor Sandra Govan, USPS Community
Relations Manager Roy Betts and UNC Charlotte Chancellor
Dr. Philip Dubois preview the 2008 Black Heritage Stamp.

USPS paid tribute to Charles Waddell Chesnutt —
the 2008 Black Heritage stamp honoree — by
previewing his stamp during the 92nd convention of
the Association for the Study of African American
Life and History recently held at the University of
North Carolina Charlotte. Essayist, folklorist and
novelist, Chesnutt is the 31st honoree in the
popular commemorative stamp series. He was
the first African-American fiction writer to earn
national acclaim and is best known for his
depictions of the African-American experience
before and after the Civil War. Chesnutt was born in
Cleveland, OH, in 1858. The son of free blacks, he
was raised in Fayetteville, NC, which became a
major setting of Chesnutt’s fiction. The pioneering
writer is recognized as a major innovator and
singular voice among turn-of-century literary realists
who probed the color line in American life.
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The stamp goes on sale January 2008.

Click to view the USPS press release regarding the 2008 Black Heritage Stamp.