By Laura Swindler
6-7s Head Teacher
On Feb. 29th, the 6-7s were invited by Deirdre Hollman, mom of Myles (8-9s), to attend a first-day-of-issue ceremony as part of their post office studies. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture hosted the event. It was attended by many community members as well as officials from the United States Postal Service.
The ceremony was held to introduce a new stamp in the Black Heritage Forever Stamp series. The forever stamp honors a great American in publishing, John H. Johnson. The 6-7s class learned about Mr. Johnson’s life and work. He was the founder of Johnson Publishing Company, which publishes Ebony and Jet magazines, and many others. Johnson is the 35th honoree in the Black Heritage stamp series. The Postal Service has recognized the achievements of prominent African Americans through the Black Heritage series since 1978, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Marian Anderson, Langston Hughes and more.
At one point, the 6-7s students were asked to stand and the event speaker said, “This is all for you. You are the future.” After the ceremony the 6-7s class purchased first-day-of-issue stamps and received many gifts from the postal service. They were then able to meet the speakers and get their autographs. The students were especially excited to meet with the Postmaster General of the Bronx.
Hi Laura,
This looked like a great event for all of you! Just to let you know, there’s going to be a rally in front of the General PO on March 17th at 2:00 because there’s a plan in NYC to cut 34 post offices and cut Saturday delivery. It’s happening across the country too. My grandfather was a postal worker in Milwaukee, and he was able to support 7 children during the Depression because he had a civil service job. I will represent you and the 6-7s on March 17th to keep the offices open and keep good jobs for the postal workers!
Love,
Kallyn