Civil Rights Pioneers stamps to be dedicated
at the National Civil Rights Museum

WHAT:
Twelve civil rights pioneers will be remembered and honored at a special event as the Postal Service dedicates the Civil Rights Pioneers stamps. Local dignitaries will join with the U.S. Postal Service to honor the courage, commitment, and achievements of 12 leaders of the struggle for African-American civil rights, whose images are featured on the new Civil Rights Pioneers stamps.

WHO:
Willie W. Herenton, Memphis Mayor
A.C. Wharton, Shelby County Mayor
Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, National NAACP Exec. Director (Emeritus)
Warner Dickerson, President NAACP, Memphis Chapter
Johnnie Turner, Secretary NAACP, Memphis Chapter
Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles, Monumental Baptist Church
David Acey, Asst. Professor (African-Amer. Rhetoric and Interracial Communication)
Rev. Dwight Montgomery, President, So. Christian Leadership Conf, Memphis Chapter
Mona Mitchell, Postmaster, U.S. Postal Service, Memphis

Special Guests: Virgie Hamer Faulkner and Tamera Estinoza (daughter and granddaughter of Fannie Lou Hamer, one of the 12 pioneers featured on the stamps) and George Hunt, Artist of the “Little Rock Nine” stamp.

WHEN:
Thursday, March 19, 2009,
10:30 a.m.

WHERE:
National Civil Rights Museum
450 Mulberry Street
Memphis, TN

BACKGROUND:
A special ceremony will be held to honor the sacrifices of 12 civil rights pioneers who are featured on the new stamps. The Civil Rights Pioneers stamp sheet, bearing six 42-cent First-Class commemorative stamps, will be available at the event – along with other stamp collectibles – and at Post Offices nationwide.

The Civil Rights Pioneers stamps were issued to coincide with the 100^th Anniversary of the NAACP. The 12 featured on the stamps, in a collectible sheet, include: Mary Church Terrell; Mary White Ovington; J.R. Clifford; Joel Elias Spingarn; Oswald Garrison Villard; Daisy Gatson Bates; Charles Hamilton Houston; Walter White; Medgar Evers; Fannie Lou Hamer; Ella Baker; Ruby Hurley.