The 2001 Collection

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2000

POSTAL SERVICE ANNOUNCES 2001 U.S. STAMP PROGRAM:
'A NEW CENTURY OF STAMPS'

WASHINGTON — America's commemorative stamp program will have something for everyone next year when the U.S. Postal Service introduces a colorful array of interesting and educational designs presented as "A New Century of Stamps."

"U.S. postage stamps are a reflection of the American experience," said Postmaster General William Henderson. "For more than 150 years, stamps have helped the Postal Service facilitate communications both uniformly and universally, and their bold, often inspiring subjects and designs continue to bring history to life."

The 2001 commemorative stamp program begins with the issuance of a new Love stamp and Lovebirds stamped envelope. The Lunar New Year series continues with the issuance of the Year of the Snake stamp, bearing the salutation "Happy New Year!" It will be the ninth in the 12-stamp series.

On the centennial year of his birth, civil rights leader Roy Wilkins will be honored on the 24th stamp in the Black Heritage series. Other notable Americans in the series include last year's honoree Patricia Roberts Harris, Malcolm X (1999), Bessie Coleman (1995) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (1979).

Around the world, postage stamps are recognized as miniature pieces of art. Next year this will be more apparent than ever when a pane of 20 stamps pays tribute to 21 of America's most accomplished illustrators. James Montgomery Flagg, Rose O'Neill and Norman Rockwell are among the artists whose work will be immortalized.

Popular culture and entertainment will be in the spotlight as well, with stamps celebrating the beloved comic strip "Peanuts," Baseball's Legendary Playing Fields, Hollywood legend Lucille Ball, conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein and Looney Tunes, the classic Warner Bros. animated cartoons.

In partnership with Sweden Post, the Postal Service will salute the centennial of the Nobel Prize, the annual award for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, economic sciences and peace. In addition, Enrico Fermi, one of the preeminent physicists of the atomic age and winner of the Nobel Prize for physics in 1938, will be honored on a stamp on the centenary of his birth.

A stamp calling attention to the chronic disease diabetes-which has stricken some 16 million Americans, about one-third of whom are unaware they have the disease-will continue the Postal Service's tradition of raising public awareness of health and social issues. Other awareness stamps include Adoption (2000), Prostate Cancer Awareness (1999), Organ & Tissue Donation (1998), Breast Cancer Awareness (1996) and AIDS Awareness (1993).

Stamps for the holidays in 2001 will include designs celebrating Thanksgiving; Eid, commemorating the two most important festivals-or eids-in the Islamic calendar; Christmas, featuring Lorenzo Costa's oil-on-panel "Virgin and Child"; and Santa Claus, depicting four chromolithographs that represent the rich folklore of this holiday tradition.

Other stamps scheduled for 2001 are: Honoring Veterans, recognizing veterans as they continue to serve their country and communities; The Pan-American Inverts, reproducing three bicolored stamps issued to commemorate the Pan-American Exposition of 1901 in Buffalo, N.Y., of which a limited number were accidentally printed with inverted center images; Great Plains Prairie, the third issuance in the educational Nature of America series; Frida Kahlo, an influential Mexican artist; Carnivorous Plants, four striking designs including the notorious Venus flytrap; and Amish Quilts.

Also offered in the 2001 program will be four stamped postal cards joining the ongoing Historic Preservation series and a stamped envelope recognizing 100 years of community colleges. The stamped postal cards will honor Northwestern University (Illinois), the University of Portland (Oregon), the University of South Carolina and Yale University (Connecticut).

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2001 COMMEMORATIVE STAMP PROGRAM

Click To View	Love Two designs will celebrate the art of letter writing and the centuries-old tradition of expressing love in letters. The stamps are intended for use on Valentine's Day correspondence and wedding invitations, announcements and RSVPs. The vertically formatted stamp bearing the First-Class, one-ounce letter rate depicts a red rose superimposed on the script of a handwritten letter. Written by John Adams to Abigail Smith on April 20, 1763, during their courtship, the letter underscores the enduring nature of profound sentiment expressed in writing. The horizontally formatted stamp bearing the First-Class, two-ounce letter rate is a similar design but features a letter written by Smith to Adams on Aug. 11, 1763. Adams, who was President from 1797 to 1801, and Smith were married in 1764.
	Lovebirds This First-Class envelope features a line drawing that depicts two birds in a mirror-image, heart-shaped design.
Click To View	Year of the Snake This stamp is the ninth in the award-winning Lunar New Year series of twelve stamps. Clarence Lee-an American of Chinese descent-created the stamp art, which combines a paper-cut design of a snake with traditional calligraphy drawn by Lau Bun. The Chinese characters translate as "Year of the Snake."
Click To View	Roy Wilkins The 24th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Roy Wilkins (1901-1981). He led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1955 to 1977. The stamp art is a black-and-white photograph of Wilkins taken in the 1940s by Morgan and Marvin Smith.
Click To View	American Illustrators This pane of 20 stamps salutes 21 American illustrators whose works were recommended by a panel of experts convened by the Society of Illustrators. The artwork of Franklin Booth is depicted on the header. The artwork of the following 20 illustrators appears on the stamps: James Montgomery Flagg, Maxfield Parrish, J.C. Leyendecker, Robert Fawcett, Coles Phillips, Al Parker, A.B. Frost, Howard Pyle, Rose O'Neill, Dean Cornwell, Edwin Austin Abbey, Jessie Willcox Smith, Neysa McMein, Jon Whitcomb, Harvey Dunn, Frederic Remington, Rockwell Kent, N.C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell and John Held, Jr.
Click To View	The Nobel Prize Since 1901 five Nobel Prizes have been awarded annually for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. In 1968 an annual prize was established for economic sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel. More than 250 Americans have received the distinguished Nobel Prize. A profile portrait of Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896) and two Nobel Prize medals are depicted in the stamp art, which will be engraved by world-famous engraver Czeslaw Slania. This stamp is being issued in partnership with Sweden Post.
Click To View	Diabetes Awareness With this stamp, the Postal Service continues a tradition of raising public awareness of health and social issues. Some 16 million people in the U.S. have diabetes and about one-third of them are unaware that they have this chronic disease. The stamp was proposed by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International and is supported by the American Diabetes Association and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. The artwork includes two elements associated with diabetes testing and research: a microscope and a test tube containing blood.
Click To View	The Pan-American Inverts The Pan-American Exposition was held in Buffalo, N.Y., from May 1 through Nov. 2, 1901. On opening day, the U.S. Post Office Department issued a set of six bicolored stamps commemorating the exposition. A limited number of stamp sheets were accidentally printed with inverted centers: the one-cent "City of Alpena" steamship, the two-cent "Empire State Express" train and the four-cent automobile stamp. In 2001 the Postal Service will reproduce the rare inverts in their original colors. The souvenir sheet also includes four reproductions of a cinderella-an item that resembles but is not an official government-issued postage stamp-that originally commemorated the exposition. The addition of an international rate makes each of the four cinderella reproductions official postage stamps. The 2001 souvenir sheet also includes artwork from the cover of a 1901 souvenir guide.
Click To View	Great Plains Prairie This stamp pane is the third in the Nature of America series, promoting appreciation of North America's major plant and animal communities. Previous issuances were the Pacific Coast Rain Forest (2000) and Sonoran Desert (1999). Painted by John D. Dawson, the stamp art includes 25 animal and plant species native to the mixed-grass prairie of the American Great Plains. While the scene is imaginary, all species represented are appropriate and were recommended by scientists.
Click To View	Baseball's Legendary Playing Fields Featuring vintage postcards, this 20-stamp pane-issued in partnership with Major League Baseball-commemorates 11 legendary playing fields. Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Mo., is featured on the header. The 10 fields depicted on the stamps are: Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Mich.; Crosley Field, Cincinnati, Ohio; Yankee Stadium, New York, N.Y.; Polo Grounds, New York, N.Y.; Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Fenway Park, Boston, Mass.; Comiskey Park, Chicago, Ill.; Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pa.; and Wrigley Field, Chicago, Ill. Only four of the fields honored on the stamp pane-Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Wrigley Field-still stand.
Click To View	Peanuts This stamp salutes the comic strip "Peanuts," which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2000. Drawn by Charles M. Schulz, "Peanuts" began in syndication on Oct. 2, 1950. Schulz died Feb. 12, 2000, the day before the last original "Peanuts" comic strip was published. Translated into 21 languages, "Peanuts" appears in some 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. The stamp depicts Snoopy on top of his doghouse imagining himself as a World War I flying ace.
Click To View	Honoring Veterans With the support of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Postal Service honors the patriotic dedication of all the men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces. The stamp also recognizes the many ways veterans continue to serve their country, their fellow veterans and their communities. The present population of U.S. veterans is estimated to be nearly 25 million.
Click To View	Frida Kahlo The Postal Service continues its celebration of the fine arts with this stamp honoring Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954). While the subject of Kahlo's art was primarily autobiographical, her style was influenced by pre-Colombian art and Mexican folk art. Her work has significantly influenced Chicana artists in the United States, and since the mid-1970s she has been a role model for women in the Mexican-American and feminist communities.
Click To View	Lucille Ball The seventh stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series pays tribute to Lucille Ball (1911-1989), America's "Queen of Comedy." Prominent star of stage, screen, radio and especially television, Ball is best loved for her portrayal of wacky redhead Lucy Ricardo in the 1950s TV series "I Love Lucy." Noted Hollywood artist Drew Struzan based the stamp art on a circa 1955 black-and-white photograph of Ball. The selvage photograph appearing on the stamp pane is from a 1957 episode of "I Love Lucy."
Click To View	Carnivorous Plants Four carnivorous plant species and their prey are portrayed on these commemorative stamps. A small butterfly is caught in a leaf of a Venus flytrap; a fly perches on the lip of a yellow trumpet; an unwary wasp is drawn toward the mouth of a cobra lilly; and an English sundew has trapped an unlucky syrphid fly. The stamp art is by Steve Buchanan, an artist who specializes in botanical and entomological subjects.
Click To View	Leonard Bernstein This stamp honors Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), the accomplished conductor, composer, pianist, teacher and author who brought worldwide recognition to American composers and musicians. Bernstein was music director of the New York Philharmonic from 1958 to 1969. On Dec. 15, 1971, as laureate conductor, he became the first person to conduct 1,000 concerts with the orchestra. The stamp art is a black-and-white photograph taken in June 1968 by Don Hunstein.
Click To View	Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi, one of the preeminent physicists of the atomic age, became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. in 1944. This stamp commemorates the centenary of his birth on Sept. 29, 1901, in Rome, Italy. For his discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons, Fermi was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1938. In 1942, as part of the Manhattan Project, he directed the first controlled and self-sustaining man-made nuclear chain reaction. The stamp art includes a colorized black-and-white photograph of Fermi taken in 1948 and a model of the carbon atom. Graphite, a form of carbon, was used to slow down the neutrons in the first nuclear reactor.
Click To View	Looney Tunes: That's All Folks The fifth and final stamp in the Looney Tunes series features Porky Pig. Promoting the hobby of stamp collecting, Porky Pig-mail bag over his shoulder-poses as a diligent mail carrier. He ends the series with his trademark expression "That's all Folks!" In a first for the series, the 10-stamp pane will be accompanied by an attached souvenir card featuring a design including all the characters in the stamp series, rather than a design duplicating the individual stamp. The Looney Tunes stamp will be issued in October 2001 to help kick off National Stamp Collecting Month.
Click To View	Amish Quilts The Amish quilt is a uniquely American folk art form, and Amish quilting traditions vary from region to region. These quilts display the saturated colors, bold geometric patterns and central design motifs characteristic of those made in Lancaster County, Pa., in the first half of the 20th century. Four Amish quilts are reproduced in a repeating, rhythmic, quilt-like pattern to create this pane of 20 stamps, the first in the American Treasures series.
Click To View	Thanksgiving This stamp in the Holiday Celebrations series joins the previously issued Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Cinco de Mayo stamps. Artist Margaret Cusack designed and created the machine-appliqu�d needlework featured on the stamp. The partially quilted needlework is made of old and new fabrics and is reminiscent of American folk art stitchery.
Click To View	Santas The 2001 Holiday Contemporary stamps feature four chromolithographs (circa 1880s and circa 1915-1920) that represent part of the rich folklore of Santa Claus.
Click To View	Christmas The 2001 Holiday Traditional stamp features a detail of Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Costa's oil-on-panel "Virgin and Child," circa 1490, from the John G. Johnson Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The museum celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2001.
Click To View	Eid This stamp in the Holiday Celebrations series commemorates the two most important festivals-or eids-in the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Adha (celebrated on March 6 in 2001) marks the end of the hajj, the annual period designated for Muslims to make their pilgrimage to Mecca. Eid al-Fitr (celebrated on Dec. 16 in 2001) celebrates the end of the Ramadan fast. Designed by calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya, the Eid stamp features the Arabic phrase "Eid mubarak" in gold against a blue background, which is reminiscent of many great works of Islamic calligraphy. Eid mubarak translates as "blessed festival," and can be paraphrased, "May your religious holiday be blessed."
Click To View	Community Colleges Using as a benchmark the 1901 founding of Joliet Junior College in Illinois-the first publicly funded and continuously operating two-year college in the United States-the American Association of Community Colleges celebrates 100 years of community colleges in 2001. The Community College stamped envelope coincides with this centennial celebration. The art features an illustration by Steve McCracken that depicts a studious-looking woman carrying a backpack and reading a book while holding an overhead strap, as if she were riding on a bus or subway train.
Click To View	University of South Carolina As part of the Historic Preservation series, this stamped postal card commemorates the bicentennial of the founding of the University of South Carolina on Dec. 19, 1801. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the "Old Campus District," the Horseshoe district is the original campus of the university. The art features a detail of a circa 1820 painting that depicts the Horseshoe district on the main campus in Columbia.
Click To View	Yale University As part of the Historic Preservation series, this stamped postal card commemorates the 300th anniversary of the founding of Yale University on Oct. 9, 1701. Connecticut Hall-the first of Yale's brick buildings and the oldest remaining academic structure on campus-was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Oct. 15, 1966. A contemporary photograph of Connecticut Hall appears on the card.
Click To View	Northwestern University As part of the Historic Preservation series, this stamped postal card commemorates the 150th anniversary of Northwestern University, which was chartered on Jan. 28, 1851. The art, a tempura painting by Arnold C. Holeywell, depicts the main tower of University Hall, which was completed in 1869 and is Northwestern's oldest building.
Click To View	University of Portland As part of the Historic Preservation series, this stamped postal card commemorates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the University of Portland in 1901. John Pirman's computer-generated illustration of Waldschmidt Hall, the oldest building on campus, is featured on the card.

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