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Press Release: Congresswoman Barbara Lee Unveils the Shirley Chisholm Forever® Stamp-- U.S. Postal Service Stamp Unveiled at Women’s Economic Agenda Forum

From the Office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee

Friday January 31, 2014 - 04:40:00 PM

Oakland-- Congresswoman Barbara Lee will join Leader Nancy Pelosi and former Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey to unveil the U.S. Postal Service’s Shirley Chisholm Forever® stamp. The event will be held 10:00 am at the Mills College’s Rothwell Center located at 5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA.

The 37th stamp in the Black Heritage Series honors Shirley Chisholm—the first African American woman elected to Congress—who ran for president in 1972, which also distinguished her as the first African American and only the second woman to seek the nomination of a major political party.

Barbara Lee first met Shirley Chisholm at Mills College in 1972 where she organized the Shirley Chisholm Northern California Presidential Primary that same year. Congresswoman Barbara Lee first introduced legislation in 2005 expressing the sense of Congress that a commemorative stamp should be issued in Congresswoman Chisholm’s honor.

Designed by art director Ethel Kessler, the stamp art features a color portrait of Mrs. Chisholm by artist Robert Shetterly. The portrait is one in a series Shetterly titled, “Americans Who Tell the Truth”. The highlight of this event will be the unveiling of a large reproduction of the stamp image. The Shirley Chisholm Forever® stamp will be available for purchase at the event.

The unveiling ceremony will be followed by panel discussion on the When Women Succeed, America Succeeds economic agenda which is geared at enabling women to achieve greater economic security, raise wages for women and their families, and allow working parents to support and care for their families.