- Created by
- United States Postal Service, American, founded 1775
- Designed by
- Anderson, Gail, American, born 1962
- Alcala, Antonio
- Sherraden, Jim, American
- Date
- 2013
- Medium
- ink on paper (fiber product) with adhesive
- Dimensions
- H x W: 13 1/2 × 36 in. (34.3 × 91.4 cm)
- Caption
- Gail Anderson is a New York based designer and partner at Anderson Newton Design. Since 1987, Anderson has worked in the field of design at design firms, advertising agencies, and publications. Her work has received awards from major design organizations, including the Society of Publication Designers and the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). In 2008 she received a Lifetime Achievement Medal from the AIGA. Anderson currently works as Creative Director at the School of Visual Arts Press and is on the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee for the US Post Office. In 2013, the US Postal Service commissioned Anderson to design the commemorative stamp for the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation. Anderson was only the second African American designer tapped to design a commemorative stamp, the first being Georg Olden who designed the Proclamation’s 100th anniversary stamp in 1963.
- Description
- This is an United States Postal Service postage stamp press sheet of uncut stamps designed by Gail Anderson for the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The stamps are arranged in groups of twenty, with the word “FREEDOM” on the left side of each grouping. Each grouping of twenty stamps is one book of stamps. This press sheet includes ten stamp books. Each individual stamp is covered in text in black and red ink, resembling 19th century woodtype broadside, and 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 reverse of each book has dense black text that gives historical background about the Emancipation Proclamation.
- Place depicted
- United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design
- Type
- postage stamps
- Topic
- Art
- Design
- Emancipation
- Graphic design
- U.S. History, Civil War, 1861-1865
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gail Anderson
- Object number
- 2020.11.22
- Restrictions & Rights
- © United States Postal Service
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




