U.S. Postal Service Honors Underground Railroad with New Forever Stamps

The United States Postal Service, working with the Detroit River Project, is hosting a special stamp dedication ceremony at 1 p.m. on March 23 honoring 10 historic activists of the Underground Railroad.
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Underground Railroad forever stamps
The U.S. Postal Service is honoring 10 people who were part of the Underground Railroad on a new series of Forever Stamps. // Photo courtesy of the USPS

The United States Postal Service, working with the Detroit River Project, is hosting a special stamp dedication ceremony at 1 p.m. on March 23 honoring 10 historic activists of the Underground Railroad.

The event, to take place at St. Matthew’s and St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church (8850 Woodward Ave.) in Detroit, is free and open to the public.

The honorees — Catharine Coffin, Frederick Douglass, Thomas Garrett, Laura Haviland, Lewis Hayden, Harriet Jacobs, William Lambert, the Rev. Jermain Loguen, William Still, and Harriet Tubman — will have their images on Forever Stamps.

According to the USPS, the Underground Railroad started as a loosely organized secret network of freedom seekers, and the operatives who assisted them. Over time, the network coalesced into a well-organized system as it responded to the increasing numbers of freedom seekers and a corresponding rise in attempts to thwart escapes.

“We are honored to partner with The Detroit River Project, a team of historians, educators, and scholars dedicated to sharing the history of the Detroit River region,” says Rick Moreton, district manager of USPS Michigan One District. “We recognize the pivotal role Detroit played in the Underground Railroad, and along with our business partners in the Detroit Postal Customer Council, are privileged to pay tribute to the brave men and women who left their mark on history.”

From the time slavery was introduced to the colonies until it was abolished in 1865, enslaved people made ceaseless efforts to escape its reach. The flight to freedom, whether by foot, horseback, carriage, wagon, or boat, was difficult and dangerous.

“The Detroit River Project (DRP) is honored to partner with the USPS in celebrating our heroes,” says Kimberly Simmons, executive director of the Detroit River Project. “The women and men of the ‘network to freedom’ as the Underground Railroad is known, worked tirelessly through fear of detection and arrest to give the dream of freedom to those who sought that what was denied.

“Our own, William Lambert, known as the Detroit Underground Railroad stationmaster is, in this UGRR Stamp Collection getting a long overdue recognition as who he truly was; an American Hero.”

News of the Forever Stamps is being shared with the hashtag #UndergroundRailroadStamps.To learn more about the Detroit River Project go to their website at detroitriverproject.com/.