By Jennifer Uhlarik
My goodness, Readers! I marveled at how fast this year was flying by in my last post, and here I am again. How has another month passed us by? Are you ready for another installment of the Women of the Postage Stamps? Let’s get started!
Last month, we scrolled our way through postal history up to Harriet Tubman, so we’ll pick up today with Emily Bissell. Has anyone ever heard of her? I had not, so I found her an interesting subject. Emily Bissell was born in May 1861 in Delaware and made a name for herself as a social reformer—but not like many of the others we’ve studied in previous posts. No, rather than fighting for women to gain the right to vote, she was an Anti-Suffragette. In her mind, voting and politics was a man’s place, not a woman’s, and she both wrote and spoke about this openly. Of course, we know that in 1920, women were given the right to vote nationwide here in America—and even before that in certain states. This was not the reason she was featured on a postage stamp in 1980. Rather, it was for her work in raising awareness for and fighting against tuberculosis. In 1907, she’d heard how Denmark sold the Christmas Seal—a small stamp to raise money and awareness for a charitable organization or cause. She brought the same concept to the fight against TB. Her first year’s attempt was meager, raising only $3000 total, but in her second year, the concept met with more favor. She devoted the remainder of her life to eradicating this disease through the sale of Christmas seals, and on what would have been her 119th birthday, she was featured on a 15-cent stamp for her crusade.
The next two women were featured on their stamp together—and frankly, I think that’s perfect. I don’t know that we would know of either apart from the other. They are Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, a duo I think most in America have likely heard of. If not, let me tell you a bit about them. Helen Keller was born in Alabama in 1880. A few months before her second birthday, she grew ill with an unknown illness, though more modern experts have postulated that it was meningitis brought on by one of a number of other illnesses—perhaps scarlet fever. The result was that Helen lost both her sight and hearing. Several years later, after her mother read an article about another deaf and blind woman who’d had success being educated, Helen’s mother and father began seeking help for their young daughter. This led to finding Anne Sullivan, who became Helen’s governess, instructor, and lifelong companion. Anne was able to teach Helen to fingerspell, unlocking language, and years later, Helen learned to speak. Because of Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller was able to write books, give speeches, and work on various causes, including women’s suffrage and world peace. From the time Helen was seven until Anne’s death when Helen was in her mid-fifties, the two were constant companions. Their commemorative stamp was issued in 1980.
Our next featured lady is Dolley Madison, the wife of President James Madison, and First Lady of the United States. She and her husband occupied the Presidency from 1809 to 1817. During this time, Mrs. Madison revolutionized politics by inviting members of both major political parties to socialize together at White House functions. Prior to her tenure, such functions were known to grow heated, and even violent. But Dolley Madison brought civility to White House events, teaching both sides that they could socialize and negotiate without arguments and fisticuffs—or worse—breaking out. In addition to this, Dolley Madison also helped to furnished the White House—and during the burning of said house in 1814 by the British, she is known to have saved the portrait of George Washington, painted in 1796 by Gilbert Stuart. These are but a drop in the bucket of all that Dolley Madison is known for, but it should give you an idea of the woman whose face graced a postage stamp in 1980.
Another woman who appeared on a stamp in 1980 was Frances Perkins—the first woman in history to hold a cabinet position in American politics. Franklin D. Roosevelt named her as the Secretary of Labor, a position in which she served from 1933 to 1945—the entire length of FDR’s presidency. During that time, she played a major role in creating the New Deal, including Social Security, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and She-She-She Camps, among other things.
Another woman who appeared on an American postage stamp in 1980 was Edith Wharton. Who is she, you ask. Well, Edith Wharton was the first woman to earn the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. As a novelist, she wrote works such as Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence, among others—though she didn’t publish her first fiction title until she was forty years of age.
And our last lady of the stamp for today’s post is Rachel Carson, a marine biologist turned conservationist. It was this woman who, in the 1960s, wrote Silent Spring, about the damage of synthetic pesticides on the environment, which led to getting the chemical DDT banned nationwide. In addition, her writing also led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Aside from Silent Spring, she wrote numerous other books and articles on a variety of topics surrounding marine life and conservation. Her stamp debuted in 1981.
It’s Your Turn: Which of the women who were honored with their own stamp do you find the most memorable, and why?
Jennifer Uhlarik discovered western novels at twelve when she swiped the only “horse” book from her brother’s bookshelf. Across the next decade, she devoured westerns and fell in love with the genre. While attaining a B.A. in writing from the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. She has finaled in and won numerous writing competitions and appeared on various best-seller lists. Besides writing, she’s been a business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, a historical researcher, a publisher, and a full-time homemaker. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband and fur children.
Available Now: Love and Order: A Three-Part Old West Romantic Mystery
Wanted:
Family, Love, and Justice
One Old West Mystery Solved Throughout Three Short Romantic Stories
Separated as children when they were adopted out to different families from an orphan train, the Braddock siblings have each grown up and taken on various jobs within law enforcement and criminal justice.
Youngest child, Callie, has pushed past her insecurities to pursue a career as a Pinkerton agent. Middle child, Andi, has spent years studying law under her adoptive father’s tutelage. And the eldest and only son, Rion, is a rough-and-tumble bounty hunter.
When the hunt for a serial killer with a long history of murders reunites the brother and sisters in Cambria Springs, Colorado, they find themselves not only in a fight for justice, but also a fight to keep their newly reunited family intact. How will they navigate these challenges when further complicated by unexpected romances?
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