Stamp honors Longfellow bicentennial

The United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring the 200th anniversary of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's birth Thursday.

Katherine Tobin, a member of the USPS Board of Governors, spoke at the issuance ceremony, which took place at the American Stamp Dealers Association show in New York. Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, said, “Longfellow is not only a great poet, he also did as much as any author or politician of his time to shape the way 19th-century Americans saw themselves, their nation and their past.”

Longfellow is the 23rd honoree in the popular Literary Arts commemorative stamp series, joining other American literary giants Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, Herman Melville and John Steinbeck.

The stamp, which was designed by Kazuhiko Sano, features a portrait of Longfellow based on an 1876 photograph with background art evoking scenes from Paul Revere's Ride, one of Longfellow's most famous poems.

Shown in the USPS photo above,are, from left, 2006 Poetry Out Loud NJ State Champion Teika Monai Chapman, National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia, USPS Governor Katherine Tobin, American Stamp Dealers Association President Eric Jackson and USPS Stamp Services Manager David Failor.

For more on the famous poet, click here.