Jamaica Postmaster and The Queens Central Library Unveils Charles W. Chesnutt Stamp

JAMAICA, NY — A special unveiling for the Charles W. Chesnutt stamp will be held Friday, February 22, 2008 at 10 am, at The Queens Central Library, located at 89-11 Merrick Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11432. The Chesnutt stamp is the 31st in the Black Heritage series and is also being issued in celebration of Black History Month.

Attending the event will be James J. Burns, postmaster of Jamaica, NY, Dr. Bessie Blake, an award winning author from York College, and Ken Hale, Triboro District Manager. The program will include poetic readings from the African Poetry Theatre and refreshments will be served.

Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) was a pioneering writer recognized today as a major innovator and singular voice among turn-of-the-century literary realists. In novels such as The Marrow of Tradition and short stories such as those collected in The Conjure Woman, he probed the color line in American life.

Art Director Howard Paine wanted a stamp that emphasized Chesnutt’s intelligence and dignity; the portrait painted above by stamp artist Kazuhiko Sano was based on a 1908 photograph from the collection of Fisk University.

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