Card for USPS First-day-of-issue ceremony for Emancipation Proclamation stamp: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is an envelope (a) and insert (b) from the United States Postal Service celebrating the First-Day-Of-Issue Ceremony for the Emancipation Proclamation Forever Stamp. The envelope (a) is a rectangular white envelope with a straight-edge fold over the opening. The front has blue and red text in the lower left corner that reads “FIRST-DAY-OF-ISSUE / CEREMONY /UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE.” Above and below the text are parallel red lines at a slant. In the lower right corner is blue text that reads “Celebrate the / Art of Stamps / United States Postal Service.” Next to “United States Postal Service” is the Post Office logo in blue. In the upper right quadrant of the envelope is text stamped in black ink. It reads “First Day of Issue / EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION / January 1, 2013 * Washington, DC 20066 / FREEDOM.” Above the first line are three stars with a line of diamond shapes on either side. They form a decorative border on either side of “First Day of Issue.” There is a double line border on either side of the word “Freedom”. In the envelope’s upper right corner is a Forever stamp. The stamp has an off-white background and is covered in text in black and red ink that reads [HENCEFORWARD / SHALL BE / FREE / EMANCIPATION / PROCLAMATION / ABRAHAM LINCOLN / ***1863*** / FOREVER*** USA]. The phrase “Shall be free” and the name “Abraham Lincoln” are in red, the rest of the text is in black ink. The back of the envelope is blank. The insert’s (b) front has a black and white copy of the 1864 painting Lincoln’s Cabinet by Francis Bicknell Carpenter in the upper top third of the page. The rest of the page has a background in an off-white color with faint cursive writing, reminiscent of an old document. Superimposed over this background is black and red text. The text reads “EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION / Emancipation Proclamation Reading and / Commemorative Stamp First-Day-of-Issue / Ceremony / Tuesday, January 1, 2013 – 9:00a.m. / National Archives Building, Washington, DC.” Below this text is a list of the officials present at the ceremony, organized into two columns. At the bottom left corner of the insert is the blue post office logo next to text “UNITED STATES / POSTAL SERVICE.” In the lower right corner is the light grey logo for the National Archives. The back of the insert has a white background with dense black text regarding the Emancipation Proclamation and how the design of the 2013 stamp honors its legacy. The top half of the page has the words EMANCIPATION / PROCLAMATION “ in large black text between two horizontal red lines.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2013
• Issued by: United States Postal Service, American, founded 1775
• Designed by: Gail Anderson, American, born 1962
• Subject of: President Abraham Lincoln, American, 1809 - 1865
• Type: envelopes
• Type: programs
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product) with adhesive
• Dimensions: H x W (1a): 6 × 9 in. (15.3 × 22.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (1b): 8 1/2 × 5 1/2 in. (21.6 × 13.9 cm)
• Place depicted: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Emancipation
• Topic: Government
• Topic: Graphic design
• Topic: U.S. History, Civil War, 1861-1865
• Object number: 2020.11.38.1ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gail Anderson
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © United States Postal Service Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.