Charles Waddell Chesnutt

USPS paid tribute to — Charles Waddell Chesnutt - the 2008 Black Heritage stamp honoree — by previewing his stamp during the 92nd convention of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) recently held at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Charlotte.

Essayist, folklorist and novelist Chesnutt is the 31st honoree in the popular commemorative stamp series. He was the first African-American fiction writer to earn national acclaim and is best known for his depictions of the African-American experience before and after the Civil War.

Chesnutt was born in Cleveland, OH, in 1858. The son of free blacks, he was raised in Fayetteville, NC, which became a major setting of Chesnutt’s fiction. The pioneering writer is recognized as a major innovator and singular voice among turn-of-century literary realists who probed the color line in American life.

Shown above, ASALH National President Dr. John Fleming, UNC Charlotte Professor Sandra Govan, USPS Community Relations Manager Roy Betts and UNC Charlotte Chancellor Dr. Philip Dubois preview the 2008 Black Heritage Stamp.

The stamp goes on sale in January.

For more on Chesnutt, click here.