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Gee's Bend Quilts - 2006 US Stamps
Gee's Bend US Postage Stamps - 2006
Available August 2006

The US Postal American Treasures series continues August 24, 2006 in Chicago at the American Philatelic Stamp Show with the dedication "American Treasures: Gee's Bend Quilts" stamps depicting quilts made by Black women of Gee Bend, AL.  Five hundred (500) million stamps will be created and distributed during the year! 

 

The booklet of twenty will feature TEN different quilt designs, including:

  • "Housetop"
  • "Chinese Coins"
  • "Roman Stripes"
  • Medallion w/Checkerboard center
  • "Half-Log Cabin"
  • Bars and string-piece
  • "Nine Patch"
  • Medallion
  • "Pig in a Pen" 

 
US Postage Stamp of Harriet Powers?
Mock Powers First Class Stamp

Harriet Powers (1837 – 1911) is one of the most important figures in American quilting. Her two known-surviving quilts demonstrate her remarkable storytelling and needleart talents. Powers, a former slave from Athens, GA, appliqued quilts that illustrated Bible stories and popular folklore. Her nineteenth-century quilts are important because of their artistic value. There are also written records showing Powers artistic intentions in creating the quilts.

The 175th anniversary of her birth is in 2012. You can petition the U.S. Postal Service to issue a Harriet Powers Commemorative Stamp by sending your postcard, letter, or quilt guild petition to: The Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, U. S. Postal Service, c/o Stamp Development, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Room 5670, Washington, D.C. 20260-2437.

Each year the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, composed of 15 appointed members, recommends new stamps to the Postmaster General. The CSAC reads each of the thousands of requests sent annually. About 25 new commemorative stamp are issued each year based on general interest and national educational value. The CSAC meets four times a year. There is a 12-point criterion for stamp consideration. A stamp request will need at least three years to get through the entire process from request, approval, artwork development, unveiling to final distribution to your local post office.

Make Your Request for a Harriet Powers US Commemorative Postage Stamp Known Today!
Pictorial Quilt
The Pictorial Quilt (c. 1895 – 1898), shown left, is located at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA.  The second Powers quilt, The Bible Quilt (c. 1886), is one of approximately 370 quilts in the National Quilt Collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

You can read more about Harriet Powers from Dr. Glady-Marie Fry's landmark essay "Harriet Powers: Portrait of a Black Quilter" in the catalog "Missing Pieces: Georgia Folk Art 1770 - 1976" or from Mary E. Lyons "Stitching Stars: The Story Quilts of Harriet Powers."