Updating the Face of America

Stamp Out Stamp Bias Adding Women to U.S. Stamps

The images on stamps portray who and what our government thinks is important, serving as a sort of “Who’s Who” of American History. 

Since the formation of the United States Postal Service, men have been pictured on postage stamps three times more often than women. The implicit message in this disparity is that women have not made many significant contributions to our nation.

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New Stamp of Women! 100 Years of the 19th Ammendment

A new Forever stamp, 19th Amendment: Women Vote, was issued by the U.S. Postal Service. This stamp commemorates the centennial celebration of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote.

women-vote-stamp

Honoring Historic Contributions Updating the Face of America

If you want to help Stamp Out Stamp Bias, recommend a woman to be honored with a stamp to the Untied State Postal Service.

Maya Angelou, Poet & Activist
Sally Ride, Astronaut & Physicist
50th Year of the 19th Amendment
Martha Washington, Wife of George Washington
Sacagawea, Guide for Lewis & Clark Expedition

Get Involved Updating the Face of America

Recent USPS issues have honored more women but postal issues are a long was from achieving gender parity. 
 
 
From 2000 to 2009 the United States Postal Service honored 206 individuals on commemorative stamps, 43 were  women.  
In the last decade, 2010 to 2019, 89 commemorative stamps honoring individuals were issued.  Twenty-six of these stamps honored women, a significant improvement over the previous decade, but still only 29% of the stamp issues honoring individuals.
If you want to help Stamp Out Stamp Bias, recommend a women to be honored with a stamp to the Untied State Postal Service.
It’s easy.  Just think of a woman who you think should be honored with a stamp.  If she doesn’t already have a stamp, submit her name to the USPS.  Include pertinent historical information and important dates associated with her achievements. 
Submit your proposal in writing by U.S. mail
Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW,
Room 3300
Washington, DC 20260.

WOMEN YEAR NOTABLE FOR
Isabella I of Castile 1893 Her patronage of Christopher Columbus made his trips to the New World possible.
Martha Washington 1902 First First Lady of the United States.
Pocahontas 1907 The Powhatan princess who saved the life of Captain John Smith.
Molly Pitcher 1928 Mary Hayes McCauley earned the name Molly Pitcher by carrying water to the men in the battle of Monmouth in 1778.
Susan B. Anthony 1936, 1955 Feminist who spent more than 50 years fighting for women's rights.
Virginia Dare 1937 First European child born on American soil, in 1587.
Louisa May Alcott 1940 American author famous for her books Little Women and Little Men.
Frances Willard 1940 Educator, reformer, lecturer, and women's suffrage supporter.
Jane Addams 1940 Founder of Hull House in Chicago, a social welfare center.
Clara Barton 1948 Founded the American Red Cross.
Juliette Gordon Low 1948 Founded the Girl Scouts of the USA.
Moina Michael 1948 Initiated the Veterans of Foreign Wars fundraising drive, selling red poppies in 1915.
Betsy Ross 1952 America's most famous flagmaker.
Sacagawea 1954 Shoshone guide who led the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804.
Amelia Earhart 1963 First woman to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean.
Eleanor Roosevelt 1963, 1984, 1998 American diplomat, writer, social reformer, and First Lady to Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Mary Cassatt 1966, 1988 American painter best known for her works of mothers and children.
Lucy Stone 1968 Nineteenth century abolitionist and women's rights leader.
Grandma Moses 1969 Anna Mary Robertson Moses took up painting at the age of 76. She continued to paint until her death at age 101.
Emily Dickinson 1971 American poet who wrote more than 1,700 poems.
Willa Cather 1973 Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist.
Elizabeth Blackwell 1973 First woman physician in the U.S.
Sybil Ludington 1975 Sixteen-year-old Revolutionary War hero.
Clara Maass 1976 Twenty-five-year-old U.S. Army nurse who advanced medical science when she volunteered to be bitten by a mosquito carrying yellow fever.
Harriet Tubman 1978 Leader of the Underground Railroad, which brought slaves to freedom.
Emily Bissell 1980 Leader in the fight against tuberculosis who introduced Christmas seals in the United States.
Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan 1980 Famous student who overcame tremendous handicaps and her extraordinary teacher.
Dolley Madison 1980 First Lady who saved White House treasures during the capture of the capital by the British in 1814.
Frances Perkins 1980 First woman member of the presidential Cabinet (Secretary of Labor) appointed by F.D. Roosevelt.
Edith Wharton 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist known for her novels Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence.
Rachel Carson 1981 The publication of her book Silent Spring in 1961 touched off a major controversy over the effects of pesticide.
Edna St. Vincent Millay 1981 American poet whose work was first published when she was just 14 years old.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1981 One of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century. She excelled in track, golf, baseball, and basketball.
Mary Walker 1982 Devoted herself to the care and treatment of the sick and wounded during the Civil War.
Dorothea Dix 1983 Nineteenth-century crusader for the poor and mentally handicapped.
Pearl S. Buck 1983 Author of more than 100 books, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Good Earth.
Lillian Moller Gilbreth 1984 Engineering pioneer who analyzed how tasks are done, hoping to increase the efficiency of workers.
Abigail Adams 1985 First Lady to John Adams, she influenced American politics through her letters to her husband.
Mary McLeod Bethune 1985 Educator and social activist who founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls, currently known as Bethune-Cookman College.
Belva Ann Lockwood 1986 First woman candidate for president.
Margaret Mitchell 1986 Pulitzer Prize-winning author best known for Gone with the Wind.
Sojourner Truth 1986 Born Isabella Baumfree, she was the first black woman to speak publicly against slavery.
Julia Ward Howe 1987 Composer of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".
Mary Lyon 1987 Education pioneer who founded Mount Holyoke College.
Evelyn Nesbit 1989 American chorus girl, artists' model, actress and controversial historical figure.
Helene Madison 1990 A gold medalist in the 1932 Olympic Games in swimming.
Marianne Moore 1990 Poet who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1951 for her Collected Poems.
Ida B. Wells 1990 Civil rights activist who cofounded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman 1990 Olympic gold medalist credited with doing more to build American and international women's tennis than any other player.
Fanny Brice 1991 Singer and comedian who created the "Baby Snooks" radio character.
Harriet Quimby 1991 First American woman pilot to fly the English Channel.
Dorothy Parker 1992 Poet and short story writer.
Patsy Cline 1993 Popular American country singer.
Sara Carter Maybelle Carter Carter Family 1993 Pioneers of American country music.
Grace Kelly 1993 American film actress.
Dinah Washington 1993 "Queen of the Blues".
Clara Bow, ZaSu Pitts, Theda Bara 1994 Silent film actresses.
Nellie Cashman 1994 The "Angel of Tombstone", an anti-violence advocate who raised orphans and campaigned against public hanging.
Ethel Waters, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Mildred Bailey, Ethel Merman 1994 Famous American singers.
Annie Oakley 1994 American sharpshooter.
Virginia Apgar 1994 Doctor who developed a newborn assessment method.
Ruth Benedict 1995 American anthropologist.
Mary Boykin Chesnut, Phoebe Pember 1995 Heroic Confederate women.
Bessie Coleman 1995 First woman to earn an international pilot's license.
Alice Hamilton 1995 Pioneer in industrial medicine.
Marilyn Monroe 1995 American film actor.
Alice Paul 1995 Founder of National Women's Party and author of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Jacqueline Cochran 1996 Pioneer pilot who had more than 200 aviation records, firsts, and awards. She was the first woman to break the sound barrier.
Georgia O'Keeffe 1996 Abstract American painter. Her most famous and popular works are of huge flowers.
Dorothy Fields 1997 Popular songwriter of the 1920s and 1930s. She wrote the words for "On the Sunny Side of the Street".
Lily Pons 1997 Opera singers.
Rosa Ponselle
Women in the military 1997 This stamp honored the nearly 2 million women have served and are serving in the U.S. armed forces.
Mary Breckinridge 1998 Founder of the Frontier Nursing Service.
Mahalia Jackson, Roberta Martin, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Clara Ward 1998 Gospel singers.
Margaret Mead 1998 Famous anthropologist who studied child rearing, personality, and culture, mainly in the South Pacific.
Madam C. J. Walker 1998 African American who became one of the wealthiest women in the 1910s by developing and selling hair care products.
Ayn Rand 1999 Author of the novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
Patricia Roberts Harris 2000 Lawyer and political adviser; in 1977 she became the first African American woman named to a presidential cabinet.
Louise Nevelson 2000 Twentieth-century American sculptor who worked with wood, metals, and found objects.
Hattie Wyatt Caraway 2001 First woman elected to U.S. Senate.
Rose O'Neill 2001 American illustrator.
Lucille Ball 2001 Famed American comedian and actress.
Frida Kahlo 2001 Influential Mexican artist.
Nellie Bly, Marguerite Higgins, Ethel L. Payne, Ida Tarbell 2002 Journalists
Zora Neale Hurston 2003 African American novelist in the Harlem Renaissance
Audrey Hepburn 2003 Film actress and goodwill ambassador for UNICEF
Mary Cassatt 2003 American artist known for her portraits of motherhood
Agnes de Mille , Martha Graham 2004 Choreographers
Wilma Rudolph 2004 Track and field star
Marian Anderson 2005 Opera singer who was the first African-American to sing at the Metropolitan Opera
Greta Garbo 2005 Actress of the silver screen
Hattie McDaniel 2006 Singer and actress who was the first African-American to win an Oscar
Frances E. Willis 2006 Diplomat
Judy Garland 2006 Actress and singer, star of The Wizard of Oz
Ella Fitzgerald 2007 Jazz singer
Gerty Cori 2008 Biochemist
Maria Goeppert Mayer 2008 Nuclear physicist
Bette Davis 2008 Actress
Martha Gellhorn 2008 Journalist who covered the Spanish Civil War, World War II, and the Vietnam War
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Yearling
Mary Church Terrell 2009 Civil rights and women's rights activist
Mary White Ovington 2009 Civil rights activist
Daisy Bates 2009 Civil rights activist
Fannie Lou Hamer 2009 Civil rights activist
Ella Baker 2009 Civil rights activist
Ruby Hurley 2009 Civil rights activist
Mary Lasker 2009 Health activist and philanthropist
Anna J. Cooper 2009 African-American scholar
Lucille Ball 2009 Actress
Vivian Vance 2009 Actress
Dinah Shore 2009 Entertainer
Fran Allison 2009 Actress
Gracie Allen 2009 Entertainer
Harriet Nelson 2009 Actress
Katharine Hepburn 2010 Entertainer
Kate Smith 2010 Singer
Mother Teresa 2010 Religious figure
Julia de Burgos 2010 Poet
Carmen Miranda 2011 Latin music legend
Selena 2011 Latin music legend
Celia Cruz 2011 Latin music legend
Oveta Culp Hobby 2011 First secretary of the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, first commanding officer of the Women's Army Corps
Helen Hayes 2011 Actor
Maria Goeppert Mayer 2011 Scientist
Greta von Nessen 2011 Industrial designer
Barbara Jordan 2011 American politician and a leader of the Civil Rights Movement
Elizabeth Bishop 2012 Poet
Gwendolyn Brooks 2012 Poet
Denise Levertov 2012 Poet
Sylvia Plath 2012 Poet
Édith Piaf 2012 Singer
Isadora Duncan 2012 Choreographer
Katherine Dunham 2012 Choreographer
Lady Bird Johnson 2012 First Lady
Rosa Parks 2013 Civil rights activist
Georgia O'Keeffe 2013 Artist
Lydia Mendoza 2013 Latin music legend
Althea Gibson 2013 Tennis player
Shirley Chisholm 2014 Politician - first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress
Janis Joplin 2014 Singer and songwriter
Julia Child 2014 Chef, author, television personality
Joyce Chen 2014 Chef, author, television personality
Edna Lewis 2014 Chef, author
Maya Angelou 2015 Poet, author and civil rights activist
Flannery O'Connor 2015 Writer
Ingrid Bergman 2015 Actress
Sarah Vaughan 2016 Singer
Shirley Temple 2016 Actress, later businesswoman and diplomat
Dorothy Height 2017 Civil rights and women's rights activist
Lena Horne 2018 Singer, dancer, actress and civil rights activist
Sally Ride 2018 Astronaut, engineer, physicist
Chien-Shiung Wu 2021 Nuclear physicist