Women on US stamps

The history of women on US stamps begins in 1893, when Queen Isabella became the first woman on a US stamp.[1] Queen Isabella helped support Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage, and 1893 marked the end of a year-long celebration of the 400th anniversary of that voyage.[1][2] The first US stamp honoring an American woman honored Martha Washington, and it was issued in 1902.[3][4] In 1907, Pocahontas became the first Native American woman (and the first Native American) to be honored on a US stamp.[5] In 1978, Harriet Tubman became the first African-American woman to be honored on a US stamp.[6] In 2001, Frida Kahlo became the first Hispanic woman to be honored on a US stamp, though she was Mexican not American.[7][8]

The first Martha Washington postage stamp, issue 1902.

Groups of women have also been honored on US stamps, for example Gold Star Mothers (1948) and "Women In Our Armed Services" (1952).[9][10]

There are also generic, unnamed women who appear on US stamps, such as a woman marching with men for the National Recovery Act (1933).[11]

US stamps have also depicted female goddesses and allegories, such as personifications of liberty.[11]

List of women on US stamps

This list can be expanded with women stamps from here [12]

WomenYearNotable for
Isabella I of Castile1893Queen of Spain and patron of Christopher Columbus
Martha Washington1902, 1923, 1938First First Lady of the United States
Pocahontas1907The Powhatan princess who saved the life of Captain John Smith
Molly Pitcher1928The nickname of a woman, whose identity is not definitively known, who is said to have fought in the American Revolutionary War
Susan B. Anthony1936, 1955American feminist, social reformer, and civil rights activist
Virginia Dare1937First European child born on American soil
Louisa May Alcott1940American author, best known for writing Little Women and Little Men
Frances Willard1940American educator, reformer, lecturer, and women's suffrage supporter
Jane Addams1940American social worker and reformer, the founder of Hull House in Chicago, a social welfare center
Clara Barton1948, 1995Founder of the American Red Cross
Juliette Gordon Low1948Founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA
Moina Michael1948Initiated the Veterans of Foreign Wars fundraising drive selling red poppies in 1915
Betsy Ross1952American upholsterer credited with creating the first official flag of the United States
Sacagawea1954, 1994Shoshone guide who assisted the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804
Amelia Earhart1963American pilot, first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean
Eleanor Roosevelt1963, 1984, 1998American diplomat, writer, social reformer, and First Lady of the United States
Mary Cassatt1966, 1988, 1998American painter best known for her works of mothers and children
Lucy Stone1968Nineteenth century abolitionist and women's rights leader
Grandma Moses1969American painter who took up painting at the age of 76
Emily Dickinson1971American poet who wrote more than 1,700 poems
Willa Cather1973American novelist
Elizabeth Blackwell1973American physician, the first female physician in the U.S.
Sybil Ludington1975American-born heroine of the American Revolutionary War
Clara Maass1976American nurse best known for having died as a volunteer for yellow fever medical experiments
Harriet Tubman1978, 1995American abolitionist and social activist who was part of the Underground Railroad
Emily Bissell1980American social worker and activist best known for introducing Christmas Seals to the United States
Helen Keller1980American author and disability rights advocate
Anne Sullivan1980American teacher best known for being the instructor and lifelong companion of Helen Keller
Dolley Madison1980First Lady of the United States
Frances Perkins1980American workers-rights advocate and fourth United States Secretary of Labor, the first female to hold a cabinet-level position in the United States government
Edith Wharton1980American novelist best known for her novels Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence
Rachel Carson1981American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist, best known for writing Silent Spring in advance of the environmental movement
Edna St. Vincent Millay1981American poet
Babe Didrikson Zaharias1981American multi-sport athlete
Mary Walker1982American abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war, and surgeon, the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor
Dorothea Dix1983American advocate for the indigent mentally ill
Pearl S. Buck1983American writer and novelist, best known for the novel, The Good Earth
Lillian Moller Gilbreth1984American psychologist and industrial engineer, a pioneer in the field of time-and-motion studies
Abigail Adams1985First Lady of the United States
Mary McLeod Bethune1985American educator, social activist, and founder of the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls, now known as Bethune-Cookman College
Belva Ann Lockwood1986American politician, the first female candidate for President of the United States
Margaret Mitchell1986American novelist and journalist, best known for the novel Gone with the Wind
Sojourner Truth1986Born Isabella Baumfree, she was the first black woman to speak publicly against slavery.
Julia Ward Howe1987Composer of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".
Mary Lyon1987Education pioneer who founded Mount Holyoke College.
Evelyn Nesbit1989American chorus girl, artists' model, actress and controversial historical figure.
Helene Madison1990A gold medalist in the 1932 Olympic Games in swimming.
Marianne Moore1990Poet who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1951 for her Collected Poems.
Ida B. Wells1990Civil rights activist who cofounded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman1990Olympic gold medalist credited with doing more to build American and international women's tennis than any other player.
Fanny Brice1991Singer and comedian who created the "Baby Snooks" radio character.
Harriet Quimby1991First American woman pilot to fly the English Channel.
Dorothy Parker1992Poet and short story writer
Patsy Cline1993Popular American country singer
Sara Carter and Maybelle Carter of the Carter Family1993Pioneers of American country music
Grace Kelly1993American film actress
Dinah Washington1993"Queen of the Blues"
Clara Bow1994Silent film actress
ZaSu Pitts1994Silent film actress
Theda Bara1994Silent film actresse
Nellie Cashman1994The "Angel of Tombstone", an anti-violence advocate who raised orphans and campaigned against public hanging
Ethel Waters1994American jazz, swing, and pop singer and actress
Bessie Smith1994American blues singer
Billie Holiday1994American jazz and swing singer
Mildred Bailey1994Native American jazz singer
Ethel Merman1994American actress and singer of musical comedy
Annie Oakley1994American sharpshooter
Virginia Apgar1994Doctor who developed a newborn assessment method
Ruth Benedict1995American anthropologist
Mary Boykin Chesnut1995American Civil War author
Phoebe Pember1995American nurse and hospital administrator for Confederate States military hospital
Bessie Coleman1995First woman to earn an international pilot's license
Alice Hamilton1995Pioneer in industrial medicine
Marilyn Monroe1995American film actor
Alice Paul1995Founder of National Women's Party and author of the Equal Rights Amendment
Jacqueline Cochran1996Pioneer pilot who had more than 200 aviation records, firsts, and awards. She was the first woman to break the sound barrier
Georgia O'Keeffe1996, 2013American-born abstract painter
Dorothy Fields1996Popular songwriter of the 1920s and 1930s. She wrote the words for "On the Sunny Side of the Street"
Lily Pons1997French-American operatic soprano and actress
Rosa Ponselle1997American operatic soprano
Women in the military1997This stamp honored the nearly 2 million women have served and are serving in the U.S. armed forces
Mary Breckinridge1998Founder of the Frontier Nursing Service
Mahalia Jackson1998American gospel singer
Roberta Martin1998American gospel composer, singer, pianist, arranger, and choral organizer
Sister Rosetta Tharpe1998American singer and guitarist
Clara Ward1998American gospel singers
Margaret Mead1998Famous anthropologist who studied child rearing, personality, and culture, mainly in the South Pacific
Madam C. J. Walker1998African American who became one of the wealthiest women in the 1910s by developing and selling hair care products
Ayn Rand1999Author of the novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged
Patricia Roberts Harris2000Lawyer and political adviser; in 1977 she became the first African American woman named to a presidential cabinet
Louise Nevelson2000Twentieth-century American sculptor who worked with wood, metals, and found objects
Hattie Wyatt Caraway2001First woman elected to U.S. Senate
Rose O'Neill2001American illustrator
Lucille Ball1999, 2001, 2009American comedian and actress
Frida Kahlo2001Mexican artist
Nellie Bly2002American journalist best known for her 72-day trip around the globe
Marguerite Higgins2002American reporter and war correspondent
Ethel L. Payne2002American journalist, editor, and foreign correspondent
Ida Tarbell2002American writer, journalist, and lecturer, famous as a muckraking reporter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Zora Neale Hurston2003African American novelist in the Harlem Renaissance
Audrey Hepburn2003Film actress and goodwill ambassador for UNICEF
Mary Cassatt1988, 2003American artist known for her portraits of motherhood
Agnes Lee and her daughter Peggy2002American author and, with her daughter, the subject of a photograph by American photographer Gertrude Käsebier featured on a US postage stamp
Florence Owens Thompson1998American depression-era woman who was the subject of a photograph by American photographer Dorothea Lange entitled "Migrant Mother" which was featured on a US postage stamp
Ida Pabst2002Daughter-in-law of Frederick Pabst (the German-American brewer for whom Pabst Brewing Company was named) and the subject of a portrait by American photographer Imogen Cunningham which was featured on a US postage stamp
Agnes de Mille2004American dancer and choreographer
Martha Graham2004American modern dancer and choreographer
Wilma Rudolph2004Track and field star
Marian Anderson2005Opera singer who was the first African-American to sing at the Metropolitan Opera
Greta Garbo2005Actress of the silver screen
Hattie McDaniel2006Singer and actress who was the first African-American to win an Oscar
Frances E. Willis2006Diplomat
Judy Garland2006Actress and singer, star of The Wizard of Oz
Ella Fitzgerald2007Jazz singer
Gerty Cori2008Biochemist
Maria Goeppert Mayer2008Nuclear physicist
Bette Davis2008American actress
Martha Gellhorn2008Journalist who covered the Spanish Civil War, World War II, and the Vietnam War
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings2008Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Yearling
Mary Church Terrell2009Civil rights and women's rights activist
Mary White Ovington2009Civil rights activist
Daisy Bates2009Civil rights activist
Fannie Lou Hamer2009Civil rights activist
Ella Baker2009Civil rights activist
Ruby Hurley2009Civil rights activist
Mary Lasker2009Health activist and philanthropist
Anna J. Cooper2009African-American scholar
Vivian Vance2009American actress and singer
Dinah Shore2009American singer, actress, and television personality
Fran Allison2009American comedian, singer, and TV and radio personality
Gracie Allen2009American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian
Harriet Nelson2009American singer and actress
Katharine Hepburn2010American actress
Kate Smith2010American contralto singer
Mother Teresa2010Albanian-born Indian Catholic nun canonized as a Catholic saint in 2016, best known for her life devoted to charitable work
Julia de Burgos2010Puerto Rican pro-independence poet
Carmen Miranda2011Portuguese-born Brazilian-American samba singer, dancer, and actress
Selena2011American Tejano singer
Celia Cruz2011Cuban-American singer
Oveta Culp Hobby2011First secretary of the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, first commanding officer of the Women's Army Corps
Helen Hayes2011American actress
Maria Goeppert Mayer2011German-born American theoretical physicist
Greta von Nessen2011Swedish-born American industrial designer
Barbara Jordan2011American politician and a leader of the Civil Rights Movement
Elizabeth Bishop2012American poet and short-story author
Gwendolyn Brooks2012American poet, author, and teacher
Denise Levertov2012British-born American poet
Sylvia Plath2012American poet and author
Édith Piaf2012French singer
Isadora Duncan2012American dancer and choreographer
Katherine Dunham2012American dancer and choreographer
Lady Bird Johnson2012First Lady of the United States
Rosa Parks2013Civil rights activist
Lydia Mendoza2013Latin music legend
Althea Gibson2013Tennis player
Shirley Chisholm2014Politician - first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress
Janis Joplin2014Singer and songwriter
Julia Child2014Chef, author, television personality
Joyce Chen2014Chef, author, television personality
Edna Lewis2014Chef, author
Maya Angelou2015Poet, author and civil rights activist
Flannery O'Connor2015Writer
Ingrid Bergman2015Actress
Sarah Vaughan2016Singer
Shirley Temple2016Actress, later businesswoman and diplomat
Dorothy Height2017Civil rights and women's rights activist
Lena Horne2018Singer, dancer, actress and civil rights activist
Sally Ride2018Astronaut, engineer, physicist
Gwen Ifill2020Journalist; first African-American woman to host a major political talk show: PBS's "Washington Week in Review" in 1999[13]
Chien-Shiung Wu2021Nuclear physicist
Edmonia Lewis2022Sculptor; first African-American and Native American sculptor to earn international recognition[14]
Eugenie Clark2022American ichthyologist
Nancy Reagan2022First Lady of the United States
Anna McNeill Whistler1934Mother of American-born painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Blanche Scott1980Inventor and pioneering aviator
Ethel Barrymore1982American film actress
Lila Acheson Wallace1998American magazine publisher and philanthropist; co-founder of Reader's Digest
Lynn Fontanne1999English actress
Neysa McMein2001American illustrator and portrait painter
Enda Ferber2002American author of novels, short stories, and plays
Barbara McClintock2005American genetecist
Katherine Anne Porter2006American author and journalist
Margaret Chase Smith2007American Congresswoman and Senator from Maine, the first woman to serve in both houses of the US Congress
Harriet Beecher Stowe2007American author and abolitionist, best known for writing Uncle Tom's Cabin
Josephine Baker2008American-born French dancer, singer, and actress

Sources: [15][12]

References

  1. "Leaving Their Stamp on History".
  2. Edwards, John. Ferdinand and Isabella. Pearson Education Limited, 2005, p. 119
  3. "Martha Washington".
  4. "Women Who Left Their Stamp On U.S. Philatelic History". Mode.
  5. "Postage Stamps - Postal Facts".
  6. United States Postal Service. "Publication 354 - African Americans on Stamps".
  7. Klein, Adam G. (2005). Frida Kahlo. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub. Co. ISBN 9781596797314. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  8. "'Love' stamp a highlight of 2001". LJWorld.com.
  9. "Leaving Their Stamp on History".
  10. "Leaving Their Stamp on History".
  11. "The First Fifty Women on United States Stamps" (PDF). American Philatelic Society. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
  12. "Women Subjects on United States Postage Stamps" (PDF). United States Postal Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-03-19.
  13. Elassar, Alaa (2020-02-01). "Gwen Ifill: US Postal Service honors pioneering journalist with Black Heritage Forever stamp". CNN. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  14. "Edmonia Lewis Stamps". United States Postal Service.
  15. "Women Who Left Their Stamps on History". factmonster.com.
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