Celebrate the Century

You’re about to experience an event no one you know has ever experienced: the end of both a century and a millennium and the beginning of the next. As the excitement mounts at the dawning of the 21st century and the third millennium, the Postal Service has created a unique program to help all Americans mark this once-in-a-lifetime event by celebrating the 20th century and looking forward to the future. It will involve every postal employee and millions of other people, adults and kids alike. How? By letting everyone help decide the significant people, events and trends of this century that should be featured on commemorative postage stamps.

It’s all part of "Celebrate the CenturyTM" (CTC), the most ambitious and creative stamp program ever offered by the Postal Service.

"For the first time, the public will play a major role in determining the stamp subjects that will become a permanent record of the passing millennium," says Postmaster General Marvin Runyon, adding that CTC is also the first official American celebration for the century that’s about to come to a close.

The Postal Service tested the voting concept in 1992 when Americans had a choice between stamp designs depicting a young Elvis and a more "mature" version. And while Elvis remains the most popular stamp ever, CTC will dwarf "The King": 150 stamps issued over two years, and all in addition to the usual commemorative stamp program.

"We want to make this exciting and meaningful for kids, adults and postal employees,"says Valoree Vargo, manager, Stamp and Product Marketing, who is responsible for CTC. "So, beginning in February and for the next two years, we will issue ballots with 30 topics for each decade, starting with the 1950s, for folks to vote on. Choices - up to three subjects - in the areas of People and Events, Sports, Art and Entertainment, Lifestyle, and Science and Technology will be available. While people are voting on the topics for the last half of the century, stamps for each decade of the first half will be released once every three to four months. (See timeline below.)

"Our research indicates that the public would prefer to vote on topics with which they are more familiar - the 1950s onward. So stamp subjects for the first half of the century have already been recommended by the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee and approved by PMG Runyon," Vargo says.

As with the Elvis vote, ballots will be available at the beginning of a voting month in post offices and magazines (you are seeing it here first — and getting the chance to vote first), at schools and special events, and on the Internet. The public will be able to cast votes throughout that month.Voting for the 1950s runs from February 3-28. Voting for the 1960s begins in May.

If there is something that can have even more significance than national participation in the selection of dozens of stamp subjects, this next part of CTC may be it: the "Celebrate the Century Education Series."

This is an in-class cross-curricular guide developed by the Postal Service in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education and 10 of the top national educational associations. Linda Hounchell, program manager for Stamp and Product Marketing, is directing CTC’s educational effort. The materials are expected to make the past 100 years come alive for more than 18 million students across the United States.

Designed primarily for students in grades 3 to 6, the education series is available to teachers free of charge and includes ballots, a three-year calendar of events, a complete teachers’ guide with resource material that can be copied, take-home projects and more. "Kids will learn about the stamp topics first, then cast ballots as informed voters," says Hounchell.

The program also includes links to subject-related websites and other activities developed in cooperation with Microsoft, where students (and anyone else interested) can find background information about the stamp topics at Encarta Online, and teachers can access an on-line version of the USPS curriculum at the Encarta Schoolhouse website.

"This will give children the opportunity to take a field trip through the 20th century, studying stamp subjects and voting for them right along with the rest of the nation," says Azeezaly Jaffer, manager, Stamp Services, at headquarters. "And it will provide teachers with a creative and fun way to help educate children about the significant people and events of the century so they, too, can make informed decisions.”

Hounchell also looks at it as a powerful tool for families to interact in a positive way. "Kids will be studying topics that their parents actually lived. What a great opportunity for parents and kids together to share the joy of what shaped this country," she says. "Postal employees in particular should be proud because this is an American program and the Postal Service is the cornerstone of it."

The U.S. Department of Education has heartily endorsed CTC, saying that it "dovetails" with President Clinton’s education initiatives that emphasize high expectations and high standards for all children.

"The United States Postal Service is delivering a slice of history to America’s schoolchildren," says U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. "Exposure to the heroes and great moments of the 20th century that will be honored on these stamps will give a dose of inspiration to the children who will some day perform the great deeds of the 21st century."

CTC will celebrate the nation’s past, but a special part of the program will let kids express their vision of the future. "Stampin’ the Future" is an international stamp design contest for kids ages 8 to 12 that encourages children from around the world to submit stamp designs expressing their dreams and hopes for the 21st century.

"We want to look at the future through the eyes of children, and our world is becoming more and more a global village," explains Hounchell. So far 25 postal administrations have committed; winners will attend the first World Kids’ Congress to be held in 2000, the same year these stamps will be issued.

"We’ve never decided to issue so many stamps for so many people and events in such a short period of time," adds Jaffer. "But then, it’s not too often that we get to celebrate a new century and millennium."

Because of its unique positioning as an opportunity in which every American can become involved, Jaffer sees the program not so much as a national campaign but as an opportunity for grassroots participation. "There will be some advertising," he explains, "and post offices will receive creative lobby displays and posters to encourage participation in CTC. But the primary driver of publicity will be locally sponsored events focusing on an activity connected to a specific decade in which employees, the public and students can participate."

"What we’re doing will help Americans of all ages enter the 21st century with a clearer understanding of the forces that shaped our history," Jaffer adds. "We’ll give them an historic opportunity to put their own stamp on history. And, hopefully, we’ll have a lot of fun along the way."