Ella Fitzgerald Stamp to be dedicated at Frederick Douglas Isaac-Myers Maritime Park Museum

BALTIMORE, MD — “The First Lady of Song” Ella Fitzgerald, the most popular jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century, will be the subject of a unique tribute at Frederick Douglas Isaac-Myers Maritime Park Museum, when the new commemorative postage stamp bearing her image will be dedicated there on Wednesday, February 21, beginning 11:00 a.m. The program will be held in the museum, 1417 Thames Street.

Ella Fitzgerald, artist, vocalist, Grammy award winner, is the 30th honoree in the U.S. Postal Service Black Heritage commemorative stamp series. The stamp is available at Post Offices nationwide and online at www.usps.com.

“The Postal Service proudly celebrates the life and legacy of Ella Fitzgerald,” said William Ridenour, Acting Baltimore Postmaster. “Her extraordinary vocal range and flexibility, combined with her gift for pitch, rhythmic sense and flawless diction, made her one of America’s most distinctive singers of jazz and popular tunes.”

Joining Ridenour at this event is Bart Kennedy representative from Senator Barbara Mikulskia’s office, 7th District Congressman Elijah Cummings, Frederick Douglas Isaac-Myers Maritime Park Museum Director & Curator Dr. Diane Swann-Wright, Living Classroom Foundation President James Piper Bond and Rosa Pryor an entertainment columnist and reporter with the Afro-American Newspaper. Music will be provided by the U.S. Postal Service Glee Club.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation, 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.