On July 1, 1957, the Teachers of America stamp was issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Education Association. Released in Philadelphia, where the organization began, the stamp honored a century of teachers working to build and improve American education.
In the years before the Civil War, public education in the United States was still developing. Many children were taught in private academies, church schools, or small local schools with uneven standards. By the 1850s, however, public schools were growing rapidly. More communities were accepting the idea that education should be available to all children, not just those whose families could pay for it.
Teachers were organizing, too. By the mid-1850s, teachers’ associations existed in 15 of the nation’s 31 states. These groups helped educators share ideas, discuss school problems, and push for better training. But there was no national organization to bring them together.
Thomas W. Valentine, a New York educator, helped change that. Valentine was principal of a large public school in Brooklyn and president of the New York Teachers Association. In 1857, he issued a formal invitation known as “The Call.” It asked teachers from across the country to meet and create a national body. Valentine urged “practical teachers in the North, the South, the East, and the West” to unite in “one great educational brotherhood.” The NEA still identifies Valentine’s invitation as the beginning of the effort that led to its founding.
On August 26, 1857, 43 educators gathered in Philadelphia and formed the National Teachers Association, the organization later renamed the National Education Association. The new organization hoped to raise the status of teaching, improve schools, and give educators a stronger voice. Two women attended the meeting and were allowed to sign the constitution as honorary members. But women were not admitted as full members until 1866, even though many teachers in American classrooms were women.
The organization changed its name to the National Education Association in 1870. Over time, it broadened its work. It supported better teacher preparation, higher professional standards, stronger public schools, and wider access to education. It also became a place where educators could discuss issues affecting schools in different regions of the country.
A century after the Philadelphia meeting, the US Post Office honored the anniversary with a 3¢ commemorative stamp. The stamp was first placed on sale in Philadelphia on July 1, 1957, during the NEA’s centennial convention.
The design was created by C. R. Chickering, a longtime Bureau of Engraving and Printing artist. C. A. Brooks engraved it. The stamp shows a female teacher holding a book while two children study a globe. The image reflected a traditional classroom scene, but it also suggested the wider reach of education. The inscription reads “Honoring the Teachers of America,” with “National Education Association 1857 1957” at the right.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produced the stamp by rotary press. It was printed in rose lake, a reddish shade, and perforated 11 by 10½. More than 102 million were issued.
The stamp marked the growth of public education from scattered local efforts into a national concern. It also recalled the educators who met in Philadelphia in 1857, believing teachers could do more together than they could alone.
Click here for more history from the NEA website.
Click here for more Education stamps.
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These posts are interesting and informative. Keep up the good work.
Oops! Happy belated anniversary (2nd) to Mystic’s “This day in history”. I got a little behind on my reading and missed the actual date. I won’t let it happen again. Oh by the way, thank you for what you do.
Keep them coming ,well done
Yes, as you keep adding more variety to your articles. Keep up the great work!
Mary V
Excellent work.A great POSITIVE way to start my day.
Really enjoy daily posts. Keep them coming
Yes, keep the variety coming. Thanks!
I love the daily history lesson, especially today\s issue. I am a retired teacher.
Yes, as long as you empasize the history and importance of the stamp as the primary significance of the issue. In other words, keep the stamp and event the star and the FDC the representative of both!
As a teacher of some 35 years duration with the Seattle School District, all I can say is: Bravo – and of course, Brava.
By all means don’t stop
How about adding some comments about how the designs of the stamps illustrated came to be!
Yes, please continue your first day of issue posts, especially when they honor teachers.
Keep up the great work!
Enjoy the historical efforts of combining several stamp issues into a single focus. If a First Day Issue can be combined with the story of related stamp issuesm than that would be the best.
Me too keep add more different kinds of the stamps
Yes
Yes, please more!
I find that my vote sometimes doesn’t stay locked in if I go back into the article and come back to look at the comments????
Please continue “This Day in History”. While most of the information is readily available at any number of places, you put a different spin on it by including the part stamps played in the story. It’s fun to read and you almost always learn something new. It seems a little sad that stamp collectors are unaware of the Smithsonians “Arago” website (arago.si.edu) with almost every US stamp printed in pages of 40 stamps each. Just click on the stamp and get a short easy to read history. There’s also the (1847us.com) site with stamp info from 1847 to 1970. Tons of info on both sites inc. perf., watermark, type of press, etc., etc., etc. The Postal Museum is part of the Smithsonian and Arago is part of that so if you’re not using it you’re really missing out. Besides the stamps they also have many items related to the USPS online. If you’re in the D.C. area make a visit. They even have Owney the mascot dog stuffed and on display. BTW, these sites don’t have prices, they’re for info only. I collect stamps for their unique artwork and history, I don’t sell them and I don’t care what they’re worth, that’s Mystics job.
THANK YOU!! Mr Thomas Daniel. I would have to say that your last sentenced summed all of the reasons I collect, and have been collecting stamps. It is the HISTORY and CULTURE that a stamp contains, when you hold it (tweezers) in your fingers, or place it on your hands. Remember the Soliloquy of a Postage Stamp: I am the worlds Greatest Traveler. I have journeyed from Pole to Pole…
would like to see:
1. all topics for a given date-be in printable format for collection.
2. All topics for a certain date be on a single page-type of summary for each.
3. SCOTT numbers for all stamps shown in the articles.