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Football or Physics?
U.S. commemorative stamps sometimes feature aspects of university life—guess which aspect appears on most stamps.
By William C. Handorf
United States commemorative stamps have illustrated individuals such as Marilyn Monroe (1995); characters such as Bugs Bunny (1997); American motorcycles (2006); and Valentine candy hearts (2004). Higher education research, teaching, and service, however, have received short shrift from the U.S. Postal Service, except, of course, when it comes to football.
The U.S. Post Office first issued commemorative stamps in 1893, when a series celebrating the World’s Columbian Exposition (also called the Chicago World’s Fair) depicted the trip to America by Christopher Columbus. The U.S. Postal Service, which succeeded the U.S. Post Office in 1971, today issues about fifty to seventy-five new commemorative designs each year. Commemorative stamps are printed in limited quantities and sold to the public for several months.
U.S. stamps recognize presidents, prominent Americans, anniversaries of historical events, wars, military heroes, sports, champion athletes, and many other topics, such as clouds, flowers, flags, cars, planes, actors, and artists. Approximately 2,500 commemoratives have been released in the past seven decades.
FootballAs I said, the aspect of U.S. higher education most often commemorated in stamps is athletics, especially football. The red and green Intercollegiate Football stamp issued in 1969 depicts a football player and coach. The 6-cent stamp recognizes the hundredth anniversary of the first collegiate football game, in which the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) played Rutgers in 1869. The dark brown Jim Thorpe stamp, issued in 1984 at 20 cents each, depicts the legendary football and track-and-field star wearing a football uniform.
The multicolored Knute Rockne stamp, issued in 1988 and at 22 cents each, features the famed Notre Dame coach on the field with a football. The 32-cent Four Horseman of Notre Dame photo-like stamp, released in 1998 as part of a “celebrate the century” series, depicts the four backfield stars of the undefeated 1924 Notre Dame team.
A World University Games multicolor stamp, issued in 1993 and at 29 cents each, features the legs of five runners competing in the games when they were hosted in Buffalo, New York. To be eligible, athletes must be U.S. citizens and be working toward an accredited university degree or recently graduated from an accredited institution.
The 32-cent Bear Bryant multicolor stamp, issued within a “coaching legends” series in 1997, depicts the University of Alabama coach wearing his classic hound’s tooth fedora near three players on the sidelines. A Pop Warner multicolor stamp within the same series depicts the legendary college coach with a player from an early period of football.
The multicolor “early football heroes” series, released in 2003 at 37 cents each, depicts four legends: Bronko Nagurski (the University of Minnesota), Ernie Nevers (Stanford University), Walter Camp (Yale College, now Yale University), and Red Grange (the “Galloping Ghost” of the University of Illinois).
Other College Themes
Stamps that recognize the importance of other aspects of colleges and universities in the life of America include the following. The First of the Land Grant Colleges, a green stamp issued in 1955 at 3 cents each, features a book linking Pennsylvania State University and Michigan State College (now Michigan State University). The stamp recognizes the hundredth anniversary of each institution’s establishment as a school to promote the study of agriculture in the United States.
The blue-green and black Higher Education stamp, issued in 1962 at 4 cents each, depicts a map of the United States illuminated by an oil lamp providing light by which to read. The stamp recognizes the mission of higher education to support the country’s cultural and industrial growth and celebrates the hundredth anniversary of the law creating land-grant colleges and universities.
The multicolor 33-cent GI Bill stamp, issued in 1999 within the “celebrate the century” series for the 1940s, shows a soldier studying. The stamp directs attention to the governmental program that has allowed millions of veterans and their families to obtain financial assistance to pursue education.
Outstanding Thinkers
Several stamps focus on either American or global prizes awarded to outstanding authors, scientists, and people who have increased mutual understanding between the the United States and other countries. Many have been affiliated with American universities. The awards include the purple Joseph Pulitzer stamp, issued in 1947 at 3 cents each; the multicolor Fulbright Scholarship stamp, issued in 1996 at 32 cents each; and the multicolor Nobel Peace Prize stamp, issued in 2001 at 34 cents each.
Many outstanding educators have been featured in commemorative stamps. The “educator” series released in 1940 depicted five prominent educators, including Horace Mann (1 cent), Mark Hopkins (2 cents), Charles W. Eliot (3 cents), Frances E. Willard (5 cents), and Booker T. Washington (10 cents). Other educators and founders or benefactors of institutions of higher education recognized in U.S. stamps include John Dewey (1969, 30 cents); Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller (1980, 15 cents); Joseph Wharton (1981, 18 cents); Thomas Gallaudet (1983, 20 cents); Frank Laubach (1984, 30 cents); Abraham Baldwin (1985, 7 cents); Mary McLeod Bethune (1985, 22 cents); Alden Partridge (1985, 11 cents); Sylvanus Thayer (1985, 9 cents); John Harvard (1986, 56 cents); Mary Lyon (1987, 2 cents); Johns Hopkins (1989, $1); and Justin Morrill (1999, 55 cents). Other stamps focus on key events and individuals within selected academic disciplines.
Campus Buildings
A few colleges or universities celebrating a two-hundredth anniversary in the 1940s and early 1950s were featured. Institutions of higher education celebrating significant fifty-year anniversaries more recently fall within the “historic preservation” stamped card series (for example, postcards) featuring an important building on campus. With the exception of the military academies, the U.S. Postal Service will no longer allow an individual college or university to be featured on a stamp because institutions of higher education are viewed as being of local, not national, interest.
The ultracolor United States Military Academy stamp issued in 1937 at 5 cents each belongs within the “army” series and shows Thayer Hall, the Cadet Chapel, and the north area from the institution founded in 1802. A later multicolor United States Military Academy stamp, issued in 2002 at 34 cents each, features West Point’s coat of arms. It recognizes the two-hundredth anniversary of the institution.
The ultracolor U.S. Naval Academy stamp, issued in 1937 at 5 cents each, falls within the “navy” series and shows a picture of the Naval Academy’s seal flanked by students wearing summer and winter uniforms. A later multicolor Naval Academy stamp, issued in 1995 at 32 cents each, features a racing sloop sailing against the backdrop of the academy’s chapel. It recognizes the hundred-fiftieth anniversary of the institution.
The ultramarine-color Washington and Lee University stamp, issued in 1949 at 3 cents each, recognizes the two-hundredth anniversary of that institution. The 3-cent Columbia University blue-color stamp, issued in 1954, celebrates the university’s two-hundredth anniversary. The black and orange Nassau Hall stamp, issued in 1956 at 3 cents each, depicts the two-hundredth anniversary of the completion of what was once the largest stone building in the colonies and is now the main administration building of Princeton University.
The green Dartmouth College Case stamp, issued in 1969 at 6 cents each, honors the sesquicentennial of Daniel Webster’s famed case before the U.S. Supreme Court that supported the sanctity of contracts. The stamp features Daniel Webster and Dartmouth Hall. The multicolor U.S. Air Force Academy stamp, issued in 2004 at 37 cents each, depicts the wedge-shaped Cadet Chapel at the time of the fiftieth anniversary of the institution.
Suggestions Welcomed All together, about twenty-five stamps—1 percent of the commemorative stamps released over the past seventy years—apply directly to higher education, prestigious academic prizes, collegiate sports, or individual colleges, and many of those commemoratives feature football. Aren’t academic events, themes, or organizations at least as important to the life of America as a Hollywood star or a cartoon character? Stamps reflect the priorities of the U.S. citizenry and are one area in which we can actually affect higher education’s image. The U.S. Postal Service encourages citizens to recommend new stamp designs. Why not send an idea for an individual design or an educational series to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee?
Colleges and universities, organizations serving higher education, faculty and staff members, alumni, and others can submit an idea for a commemorative stamp honoring, recognizing, or remembering an American or American-related event or organization. To do so, write to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, c/o Stamp Management, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, Room 4474EB, Washington, DC 20260-2437.
William C. Handorf is professor of finance in the School of Business at George Washington University. His e-mail address is whandorf@gwu.edu.
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