The Postal Service dedicated its stamps honoring quilter and storyteller Harriet Powers during a ceremony in Washington, DC, on Feb. 28.
“Harriet Powers took the traditional craft of quilting and elevated it into a profound medium for history and narrative,” said Lisa Bobb-Semple, the Postal Service’s director of stamp services and dedicating official. “We are proud to recognize her extraordinary skill and the enduring legacy of her vision.”
Born into slavery in 1837 near Athens, GA, Powers completed at least five story quilts that depicted scenes from the Bible and other familiar stories. Only two are known to survive today — “The Bible Quilt” and “The Pictorial Quilt” — which are considered masterpieces of American folk art.
Those pieces are now part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.
Joining Bobb-Semple for the ceremony were Karla Kirby, USPS health services executive manager and master of ceremonies; Karsonya Wise Whitehead, president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History; CeLillianne Green, poet; Kyra Hicks, quilter and author; and Powers’ descendant, Alyse Minter.
Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps featuring details of four panels from the “Pictorial Quilt.”
The Forever stamps are available in sheets of 20 at Post Offices and at usps.com.