Black Heritage Series

Ella Jane Fitzgerald’s (1917-96) pure, ageless voice spanned three octaves. She sang sultry ballads and sweet jazz and worked with all the jazz legends of her era.  As a soloist, Fitzgerald joined Norman Granz’s “Jazz at the Philharmonic” tour. She also worked with Louis Armstrong on several albums and produced her famous songbook series during the 1950s and 1960s.  In her lifetime, Ella Fitzgerald recorded over 200 albums, won thirteen Grammy awards, and sold over forty million albums. According to Fitzgerald, “The only thing better than singing is more singing.”

Charles Waddell Chestnutt (1858-1932) was the first black novelist to have his fiction published in the prestigious Atlantic Monthly Magazine and also by major publishers Houghton Mifflin and Doubleday.  In 1883, discouraged and embittered by racial prejudice, Chesnutt moved to Cleveland, Ohio.  There he was able to pursue his dream of becoming an author while working to change racial bigotry.  In his own words, “I will live down the prejudice, I will crush it out.  I will show to the world that a many may spring from a race of slaves, and yet far excel many of the boasted ruling race.”  He realized his ambitions by achieving publication of three novels, “The House Behind the Cedars,” “The Marrow of Tradition,” and “The Colonel’s Dream,” as well as two short story collections.  Chesnutt was a founding member of the NAACP, along with W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington, and was awarded that organization’s Spingarn Medal for his life’s work.

Born into slavery in North Carolina, Anna Julia Cooper rose from bleak beginnings to become a leading African American teacher and activist.  A skilled and persuasive speaker, Cooper used her gift to fight discrimination and to advocate higher education for women.  Her book, A Voice from the South by a Black Woman from the South, is considered the first work on African American Feminism.  One of the most influential African American women in U.S. history, Anna Julia Cooper died at the age of 105 – just one year after Rev. Martin Luther King led his march on the capital.

In 1966, Barbara Jordan (1936-1996) made history when she became the first black woman elected to the Texas State Senate. Jordan quickly gained acceptance from her 30 white male colleagues by sponsoring bills for Texas’ first minimum wage laws and antidiscrimination in business contracts.  By 1972, Barbara Jordan was the highest-ranking member of the Texas legislature. That same year, she ran for the U.S. Congress and won by a landslide, capturing 81% of the vote. Two years later, Jordan gained national attention during the Watergate hearings. While giving a statement on the Articles of Impeachment, she said, “I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the destruction of the Constitution.”  A rising figure in American politics, Jordan was chosen to be the keynote speaker at the 1976 Democratic National Convention. The speech, addressing unity and equality, ranked number five in a national survey listing the top 100 speeches of the 20th century.  In 1992, Jordan was again chosen to be the convention’s keynote speaker. Although confined to a wheelchair, Barbara Jordan took the stage and proclaimed, “The American dream is not dead. It is gasping for breath, but it is not dead.”

John H. Johnson (1918-2005) was the most influential black publisher in U.S. history.  In 1945, Johnson introduced Ebony, the world’s largest black-owned magazine.  Over the course of his 60-year publishing career, Johnson helped destroy stereotypes, advance the cause of civil rights, and encourage pride among black Americans.  By featuring successful businessmen, entertainers, and politicians in his magazines, Johnson challenged popular misconceptions about his race.

Gibson (1927-2003) was born in the South but grew up in Harlem. Unhappy in school and often absent, Gibson first explored tennis by bouncing rubber balls off a brick wall until a one-armed coach taught her how to play. With the help of supporters including boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, she won her first tournament at age 15.  Gibson quickly rose through the ranks of the American Tennis Association, which was founded in 1916 for black players. She won the ATA singles tournament ten years in a row but was banned from more prestigious events because of her race. Finally, white tennis star Alice Marble wrote an open letter in protest. Gibson was allowed to compete in the U.S. Nationals beginning in 1950.  Perfecting an aggressive serve-and-volley style, Gibson made history by becoming the first black person to win a Wimbledon title, the French Open in both singles and doubles, the doubles title at the Australian Open, and the U.S. Open.

The 37th stamp in the Black Heritage Series commemorates Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman in Congress. The image for the stamp was taken from a portrait that was part of Robert Shetterly’s Americans Who Tell the Truth paintings.  The steely grit that would define Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) quickly became apparent. When she was assigned to an agricultural committee, the new congresswoman insisted on being reassigned to a position relevant to her urban constituents. In 1971, Chisholm was a co-founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.  In spite of breaking ground for women and minorities, Chisholm found herself handicapped by both gender and race. The Congressional Black Caucus withheld their endorsement because of her gender. When she sought the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination, support from the National Organization for Women was minimal because of her race.  Chisholm faced several challengers in the primary, including self-proclaimed segregationist George Wallace. Chisholm survived three assassination attempts, while Wallace was paralyzed in another. The congresswoman’s visit to Wallace’s hospital room created a storm of media coverage and controversy.  In the end, Chisholm served seven consecutive terms representing New York’s 12th Congressional District. Her autobiography, which detailed her tireless experience fighting for social change, was appropriately titled Unbought and Unbossed.

The son of emancipated slaves, Robert Robinson Taylor (1868-1942)was the first black student to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  When he graduated in 1892, he became the first fully accredited African-American architect in America.  He went on to teach at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and designed the school’s Science Hall chapel.

Born into slavery, Richard Allen (1760-1831) was destined for greater things.  In 1816, he created the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and was ordained its first bishop.  Richard Allen’s dedicated religious and social work has been called “the first wavering step of a people toward organized social life.”  The early black congregations he fostered and their abolitionist efforts are often credited with beginning the civil rights movement.  Allen is celebrated by many not only as a Founding Father of African America but as a Founding Father of all America.

Dorothy Height (1912-2010) was an influential leader of the civil rights movement for over 70 years.  Her extensive work toward equal treatment of African Americans and women made a lasting impact on the history of the United States.  It was Height’s counsel that inspired President Dwight D. Eisenhower to desegregate schools and President Lyndon B. Johnson to appoint African American women to government positions.  Height’s work earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.