MLK Stamps

Stamps honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. have been issued worldwide over the years. More stamps have been issued in Dr. King's honor than of any other African American. The King stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service are really nothing to write home about (sorry), but here are some from elsewhere, that are.

I found many of these stamps, including this one from Tuva, on the website of The Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections (ESPER). Its mission is to promote "the collecting of African Americans on stamps and the collecting of stamps by African Americans.” There you can view the close to 200 stamps on which King has appeared.

The Republic of Tuva is located in the Tannu Mountains on the Siberian border in northwestern Mongolia. It is famous for its throat singing tradition and its exotic stamps (can't wait to see these, and I promise to share if they are as great this set).

Dr. King often appears on one stamp in a series of notables, and sometimes with others on the same stamp. Then there are countries that have issued MLK stamps in various denominations. I’ve posted a small selection.

Ras Al Khaima, an emirate of the UAE was the first

to honor Dr. King with a stamp on May 25, 1968.

Sources: Aside from ESPER, these stamps are from eBay and various stamp-collecting sites.

Magazine Covers for Black History Month: The Crisis

If you haven’t been following the magazines posted for Black History Month on Robert Newman Design, you should definitely check out the collection of iconic African American covers. Everything from Fortune Covers by Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden, to Playboy’s first black cover model. It’s a great series co-produced by Linda Rubes of Fortune.


The Crisis was founded in 1910 as the magazine of the NAACP. Bob Newman posted this cover by Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas. I’d like to share a few more of their wonderful, early illustrated covers.

The Crisis is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and was founded by W. E. B. Du Bois in 1910. The original title of the journal was The Crisis: A Record Of The Darker Races …The title derives from the poem "The Present Crisis" by James Russell Lowell.

Predominantly a current-affairs journal, The Crisis also included poems, reviews, and essays on culture and history. Throughout the Du Bois years The Crisis published the work of many young African American writers associated with the Harlem Renaissance. (From Wikipedia)

I would like to say that the above three covers are by Aaron Douglas, but I have only been able to verify that the bottom two are by him.





In October, 1911, Du Bois wrote that "every argument for Negro suffrage is an argument for women's suffrage." Throughout its history, The Crisis ran a great many issues with women on the cover (check out the online archive here. The March/April 2007 issue, below, features Women’s History Month interviews and a female combatant on the cover.



Images via The Crisis archive and Beinecke Library, Yale