NC legend honored at area events Thursday, Saturday

Newest Black Heritage stamp features Raleigh’s Anna Julia Cooper

RALEIGH-DURHAM — Educator, scholar, feminist and activist Anna Julia Cooper (c.1858-1964), who gave voice to the African-American community during the 19th and 20th centuries — from the end of slavery to the beginning of the Civil Rights movement — will be immortalized on a new Black Heritage series commemorative postage stamp in two separate events in the Triangle area this week.

On Thursday, June 18, Saint Augustine’s College and the U.S. Postal Service will hold a special dedication ceremony in honor of Cooper, one of its most distinguished alumnae, at its campus at 1315 Oakwood Avenue, Raleigh in the Presidential Rose Garden beginning at 11:30 am. Among the participating guests are Saint Augustine’s President Dr. Dianne Boardley Suber, Raleigh Postmaster Howard Sample, descendants of Ms. Cooper, and more. The event is free and open to the public; for information, please call (919) 516-4090 or (336) 668-1257.

On Saturday, June 20, the Triangle Cultural Awareness Foundation will join the U.S. Postal Service in introducing the Anna Julia Cooper stamp during the opening festivities of the 5th Annual Durham Juneteenth Celebration and Unity March, Forest Hills Park on University Drive in Durham, beginning at 12 noon. NC State Representative Larry Hall will chair the event that features an 11 a.m. march to the park, entertainment, stamp displays, information on education, health and business, vendors and a Children’s Village, among many highlights. This event is free and open to the public; for information, please visit www.durhamjuneteenth.com.

Anna Julia Cooper was among the first students ever at Saint Augustine’s Normal School in the 19th century, and later taught there; she later moved to Washington, D.C., where she gained prominence at Dunbar High School (formerly known as the M School), the largest and most prestigious public high school for African Americans in the nation in the early 20th century.

Cooper, best known for her groundbreaking collection of essays and speeches, A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South, also exhibited educational leadership, most notably challenging the racist notion that African Americans were naturally inferior. In 1925, she became the fourth African-American woman to earn a Ph.D.

Her stamp is available at Post Offices nationwide and online at www.usps.com/shop. For further information, visit http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

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