1984 Government Agency Issues Complete Set of Four Sheets with Matching Plate Numbers; 2071, 2074, 2075 & 2081
# 2071/81 - 1984 Government Agency Issues Complete Set of Four Sheets with Matching Plate Numbers; 2071, 2074, 2075 & 2081
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2071/81 - 1984 Government Agency Issues Complete Set of Four Sheets with Matching Plate Numbers; 2071, 2074, 2075 & 2081
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U.S. #2071/81
1984 20¢ Government Agency Stamps
Complete Set of Four Sheets with Matching Plate Numbers
- Get 200 stamps in four complete sheets from the same pane – these were the first US postage stamps printed in one sheet using the “quadrant” plate printing technique
- Issued separately, each stamp commemorates the 50th anniversary of a different government agency
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Value: 20¢, rate for first-class mail
First Days of Issue: January 12 – April 16, 1984
First Day Cities: Washington, DC (#2071 and 2081); Denver, CO (#2074); Salem, MA (#2075)
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Pane of 50 in Sheets of 200 (1 pane each of #2071, 2074, 2075, and 2081)
Perforations: 11
Why the stamps were issued: These stamps each celebrated the 50th anniversary of a different government agency founded in 1934: the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Soil Conservation Service, the Federal Credit Union Act, and the National Archives.
About the stamp designs: Because the four stamps were being printed in a single pane, they were all designed by the same artist, David Michael Brown.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stamp prominently features a pillar with a dollar sign on it, to symbolize the stability of FDIC banks. This was the first US stamp to include a dollar sign as a central part of the vignette (not as part of the denomination).
The Soil and Water Conservation stamp shows a simplified hand holding a plant. The bands of color across the hand symbolize layers of water and soil.
The Credit Union Act stamp was the second US stamp to include a dollar sign as a central element of the vignette. The stamp features a large dollar sign in the background with a coin in front of it with the words “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of Many, One”). The phrase had been included in Seal of the United States and on coins and paper money since 1795. The three profiles on the coin are meant to show that savers of all ages use credit unions.
The stamp honoring the National Archives utilizes the profiles of two of America’s most influential presidents, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. It also includes the archives’ motto: “What is Past is Prologue.” The large lettering that runs up the left side of the stamp led many to believe this was a horizontal stamp at first. It was even pictured sideways in a USPS bulletin.
About the printing process: This stamp was created using a relatively new “quadrant” plate printing technique. (It had been used the year before for Official stamps.). The USPS created 200-subject plates with 50-stamp panes that each had a different stamp. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stamp (#2071) was in the upper left quadrant, the Soil and Water Conservation stamp (#2074) in the upper right pane, the National Archives stamp (#2081) in the lower left pane, and the Federal Credit Union stamp (#2075) in the lower right pane.
First Day Cities: Each stamp was issued at location important to its history. The FDIC stamp was issued at the FDIC headquarters in Washington, DC.
The Soil and Water Conservation stamp was issued during a meeting of the National Association of Conservation Districts in Denver, Colorado.
The Credit Union Act stamp was issued in Salem, Massachusetts, the birthplace of Edward Filene, who’s considered the “Father of US Credit Unions.”
The National Archives stamp was issued in the Rotunda of the National Archives building. The ceremony was held beside America’s three “Charters of Freedom” – the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
History the stamps represent:
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The sudden closing of banks during the Great Depression left many people penniless, and those who did have money were hesitant to deposit it in banks for fear of losing their assets. Created as a result of the Banking Act of 1933, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attempted to renew confidence in banks by insuring money deposited in member banks, up to $5,000 per account. That figure rose to $250,000 per account in recent years. The agency also monitors financial institutions for soundness, protects consumers, and manages banks that fail.
Soil Conservation Service
On April 27, 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Soil Conservation Act. The act established the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) to reduce and repair the damage caused by soil erosion. The SCS’s work was expanded and continues today as the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Hugh Hammond Bennett was one of the driving forces behind the act and the soil conservation movement – in fact he’s considered the “father of soil conservation.” Years earlier, Bennett was working as a surveyor for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bureau of Soils. He saw first-hand how soil was eroded by wind and water, how this made it harder to grow crops, and in turn, how it damaged communities that depended on these crops. Bennett then set out to inform the nation, writing and speaking on the soil erosion crisis. In 1928, he published Soil Erosion: A National Menace, which encouraged Congress to establish their first federal soil erosion experiment stations in 1929.
After Franklin Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, his administration made conserving soil and water resources a high priority. The 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act established the Soil Erosion Service (SES) within the Department of the Interior. The SES visited areas with significant erosion issues and demonstrated how conservation efforts would help them.
Another driving force in the soil conservation movement began in 1932: the Dust Bowl. Decades of homesteading and commercial agriculture had badly damaged the soil in the Great Plains. Extensive droughts led many crops to suffer, and high winds lifted tons of soil into the air. In May 1934, a three-day dust storm blew 350 million tons of soil from the west toward New York and Boston. Some cities lit street lamps during the day to see through the thick dust. The dust storms continued into 1935, sweeping across the plains, and into Washington in March. The March storms coincided with Congress’s hearings on a proposed soil conservation law.
Bennett wrote editorials and testified before Congress explaining the role of soil erosion in these dust storms. Congress heard his pleas and passed the Soil Conservation Act, which President Roosevelt signed into law on April 27, 1935. The law established the Soil Conservation Service to “control floods, prevent impairment of reservoirs and maintain the navigability of rivers and harbors, protect public health, public lands and relieve unemployment.” Bennett served as its first chief. Farmers were given subsidies to plant native grasses and trees or raise vegetables. Within three years, soil erosion in the US dropped 65 percent.
Following the passage of the Flood Control Act of 1936, the SCS also began surveying and providing flood control plans for watersheds. In 1938, it also began to oversee the USDA’s draining and irrigation assistance programs, snow surveys, water supply forecasts, and more. In 1937, the SCS established state soil conservation districts to help support these efforts on the local level. There are over 3,000 of these districts today.
The SCS grew significantly after World War II and merged with the Soil Survey. Following a large reorganization of the USDA, the SCS turned a large amount of the regional work over to state offices. By the 1950s, Congress had passed several bills providing for watershed planning under the SCS. They then passed the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, which gave the SCS permanent watershed planning authority. Over the years, they built 11,000 dams for over 2,000 watershed projects.
The SCS’s responsibilities continued to evolve and grow in the coming decades – they expanded their services to suburban areas, oversaw water quality projects, and took on the protection of wetlands. To reflect these changes, the SCS was renamed the Natural Resources Conservation Service in 1994. It continues to work with citizens, state and local governments, and other federal agencies to protect and repair our natural landscapes.
Credit Union Act
A credit union is a financial cooperative chartered by the federal government and owned by its members. Credit unions offer members a safe place to save and borrow money at reasonable rates. Surplus income is returned to members in the form of dividends. Membership is limited to groups of people with a common bond, such as types of industry or employment.
With the passage of the Credit Union Act of 1909, Massachusetts became the first state to enact legislation to regulate the cooperatives. Modeled after the Massachusetts legislation, the Federal Credit Union Act of 1934 established a nationwide system to charter and supervise the cooperatives. The number of credit unions in the United States has grown steadily since 1934. Today more than 9,500 credit unions offer a full range of services to 82 million members.
National Archives
On June 19, 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation creating the National Archives.
For many decades beforehand, Congress had debated the idea of a national archive to house America’s most important records. Over the years, fires, mishandling, poor storage, or other events had destroyed many old records.
Over time, the State Department unofficially became the home of the national archives, protecting important documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The late 1800s saw an increase in the number of archivists and historians, who began calling for a national archive. Founded in 1884, the American Historical Association frequently discussed the need for a national archive. Brown University Professor J. Franklin Jameson was one of the driving forces behind the idea. He suggested a program to collect and publish historic US documents.
In 1898, Congress received a recommendation for a hall of records, but no action was taken. When the Guide to the Archives of the Government of the United States was published in 1904, it helped gain some support, but still no action. Then in 1921, a fire broke out in the Commerce Department, destroying the census records of 1890. This raised concerns for many of the safety of America’s historic documents, and many began calling for the proper protection of America’s records.
In 1926, Congress approved the funding to construct a building to house these records, located between the Capitol and the White House. However, even after construction started in 1931, Congress had yet to pass legislation to create an agency to protect the documents held within.
President Franklin Roosevelt had recognized the importance of a national archive, but as America was struggling through the Depression, it wasn’t one of his highest priorities early on in his administration. He eventually tasked his advisor with helping get the archives authorized in Congress. While there were some differences of opinion on the project, they approved the archives and Roosevelt signed it into law on June 19, 1934.
Roosevelt was personally involved in the National Archives early activities. He approved the expansion of the storage facilities – doubling them to hold not just historical records but operational records as well. The first staff members began working in the building in 1935, though construction wasn’t complete until 1938.
During World War II, some worried that the capital could become a target of enemy bombers, so thousands of records were moved to the archives, which became known as “Fort Archives.” The archives also contributed to the war effort. They had War Department records from World War I, including detailed maps of Europe and the Pacific, which the military used to plan their offensives.
After the war, the archives were folded into the new General Services Administration (GSA), which managed government property and records. Many within the archives opposed this move, as it took some control away from the archives. They would function under the GSA for decades, before re-earning their independence on October 19, 1984. On that day, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation making the archives an independent agency, reporting only to the president. The archives also adopted its current name – the National Archives and Records Administration.
Today, the archives hold about 10 billion textual records, 12 million maps, charts, and engineer drawings, 50 million photographs, 300,000 motion picture reels, 400,000 video and sound recordings, and 133 terabytes of electronic data.
U.S. #2071/81
1984 20¢ Government Agency Stamps
Complete Set of Four Sheets with Matching Plate Numbers
- Get 200 stamps in four complete sheets from the same pane – these were the first US postage stamps printed in one sheet using the “quadrant” plate printing technique
- Issued separately, each stamp commemorates the 50th anniversary of a different government agency
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Value: 20¢, rate for first-class mail
First Days of Issue: January 12 – April 16, 1984
First Day Cities: Washington, DC (#2071 and 2081); Denver, CO (#2074); Salem, MA (#2075)
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Pane of 50 in Sheets of 200 (1 pane each of #2071, 2074, 2075, and 2081)
Perforations: 11
Why the stamps were issued: These stamps each celebrated the 50th anniversary of a different government agency founded in 1934: the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Soil Conservation Service, the Federal Credit Union Act, and the National Archives.
About the stamp designs: Because the four stamps were being printed in a single pane, they were all designed by the same artist, David Michael Brown.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stamp prominently features a pillar with a dollar sign on it, to symbolize the stability of FDIC banks. This was the first US stamp to include a dollar sign as a central part of the vignette (not as part of the denomination).
The Soil and Water Conservation stamp shows a simplified hand holding a plant. The bands of color across the hand symbolize layers of water and soil.
The Credit Union Act stamp was the second US stamp to include a dollar sign as a central element of the vignette. The stamp features a large dollar sign in the background with a coin in front of it with the words “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of Many, One”). The phrase had been included in Seal of the United States and on coins and paper money since 1795. The three profiles on the coin are meant to show that savers of all ages use credit unions.
The stamp honoring the National Archives utilizes the profiles of two of America’s most influential presidents, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. It also includes the archives’ motto: “What is Past is Prologue.” The large lettering that runs up the left side of the stamp led many to believe this was a horizontal stamp at first. It was even pictured sideways in a USPS bulletin.
About the printing process: This stamp was created using a relatively new “quadrant” plate printing technique. (It had been used the year before for Official stamps.). The USPS created 200-subject plates with 50-stamp panes that each had a different stamp. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stamp (#2071) was in the upper left quadrant, the Soil and Water Conservation stamp (#2074) in the upper right pane, the National Archives stamp (#2081) in the lower left pane, and the Federal Credit Union stamp (#2075) in the lower right pane.
First Day Cities: Each stamp was issued at location important to its history. The FDIC stamp was issued at the FDIC headquarters in Washington, DC.
The Soil and Water Conservation stamp was issued during a meeting of the National Association of Conservation Districts in Denver, Colorado.
The Credit Union Act stamp was issued in Salem, Massachusetts, the birthplace of Edward Filene, who’s considered the “Father of US Credit Unions.”
The National Archives stamp was issued in the Rotunda of the National Archives building. The ceremony was held beside America’s three “Charters of Freedom” – the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
History the stamps represent:
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The sudden closing of banks during the Great Depression left many people penniless, and those who did have money were hesitant to deposit it in banks for fear of losing their assets. Created as a result of the Banking Act of 1933, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attempted to renew confidence in banks by insuring money deposited in member banks, up to $5,000 per account. That figure rose to $250,000 per account in recent years. The agency also monitors financial institutions for soundness, protects consumers, and manages banks that fail.
Soil Conservation Service
On April 27, 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Soil Conservation Act. The act established the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) to reduce and repair the damage caused by soil erosion. The SCS’s work was expanded and continues today as the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Hugh Hammond Bennett was one of the driving forces behind the act and the soil conservation movement – in fact he’s considered the “father of soil conservation.” Years earlier, Bennett was working as a surveyor for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bureau of Soils. He saw first-hand how soil was eroded by wind and water, how this made it harder to grow crops, and in turn, how it damaged communities that depended on these crops. Bennett then set out to inform the nation, writing and speaking on the soil erosion crisis. In 1928, he published Soil Erosion: A National Menace, which encouraged Congress to establish their first federal soil erosion experiment stations in 1929.
After Franklin Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, his administration made conserving soil and water resources a high priority. The 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act established the Soil Erosion Service (SES) within the Department of the Interior. The SES visited areas with significant erosion issues and demonstrated how conservation efforts would help them.
Another driving force in the soil conservation movement began in 1932: the Dust Bowl. Decades of homesteading and commercial agriculture had badly damaged the soil in the Great Plains. Extensive droughts led many crops to suffer, and high winds lifted tons of soil into the air. In May 1934, a three-day dust storm blew 350 million tons of soil from the west toward New York and Boston. Some cities lit street lamps during the day to see through the thick dust. The dust storms continued into 1935, sweeping across the plains, and into Washington in March. The March storms coincided with Congress’s hearings on a proposed soil conservation law.
Bennett wrote editorials and testified before Congress explaining the role of soil erosion in these dust storms. Congress heard his pleas and passed the Soil Conservation Act, which President Roosevelt signed into law on April 27, 1935. The law established the Soil Conservation Service to “control floods, prevent impairment of reservoirs and maintain the navigability of rivers and harbors, protect public health, public lands and relieve unemployment.” Bennett served as its first chief. Farmers were given subsidies to plant native grasses and trees or raise vegetables. Within three years, soil erosion in the US dropped 65 percent.
Following the passage of the Flood Control Act of 1936, the SCS also began surveying and providing flood control plans for watersheds. In 1938, it also began to oversee the USDA’s draining and irrigation assistance programs, snow surveys, water supply forecasts, and more. In 1937, the SCS established state soil conservation districts to help support these efforts on the local level. There are over 3,000 of these districts today.
The SCS grew significantly after World War II and merged with the Soil Survey. Following a large reorganization of the USDA, the SCS turned a large amount of the regional work over to state offices. By the 1950s, Congress had passed several bills providing for watershed planning under the SCS. They then passed the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, which gave the SCS permanent watershed planning authority. Over the years, they built 11,000 dams for over 2,000 watershed projects.
The SCS’s responsibilities continued to evolve and grow in the coming decades – they expanded their services to suburban areas, oversaw water quality projects, and took on the protection of wetlands. To reflect these changes, the SCS was renamed the Natural Resources Conservation Service in 1994. It continues to work with citizens, state and local governments, and other federal agencies to protect and repair our natural landscapes.
Credit Union Act
A credit union is a financial cooperative chartered by the federal government and owned by its members. Credit unions offer members a safe place to save and borrow money at reasonable rates. Surplus income is returned to members in the form of dividends. Membership is limited to groups of people with a common bond, such as types of industry or employment.
With the passage of the Credit Union Act of 1909, Massachusetts became the first state to enact legislation to regulate the cooperatives. Modeled after the Massachusetts legislation, the Federal Credit Union Act of 1934 established a nationwide system to charter and supervise the cooperatives. The number of credit unions in the United States has grown steadily since 1934. Today more than 9,500 credit unions offer a full range of services to 82 million members.
National Archives
On June 19, 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation creating the National Archives.
For many decades beforehand, Congress had debated the idea of a national archive to house America’s most important records. Over the years, fires, mishandling, poor storage, or other events had destroyed many old records.
Over time, the State Department unofficially became the home of the national archives, protecting important documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The late 1800s saw an increase in the number of archivists and historians, who began calling for a national archive. Founded in 1884, the American Historical Association frequently discussed the need for a national archive. Brown University Professor J. Franklin Jameson was one of the driving forces behind the idea. He suggested a program to collect and publish historic US documents.
In 1898, Congress received a recommendation for a hall of records, but no action was taken. When the Guide to the Archives of the Government of the United States was published in 1904, it helped gain some support, but still no action. Then in 1921, a fire broke out in the Commerce Department, destroying the census records of 1890. This raised concerns for many of the safety of America’s historic documents, and many began calling for the proper protection of America’s records.
In 1926, Congress approved the funding to construct a building to house these records, located between the Capitol and the White House. However, even after construction started in 1931, Congress had yet to pass legislation to create an agency to protect the documents held within.
President Franklin Roosevelt had recognized the importance of a national archive, but as America was struggling through the Depression, it wasn’t one of his highest priorities early on in his administration. He eventually tasked his advisor with helping get the archives authorized in Congress. While there were some differences of opinion on the project, they approved the archives and Roosevelt signed it into law on June 19, 1934.
Roosevelt was personally involved in the National Archives early activities. He approved the expansion of the storage facilities – doubling them to hold not just historical records but operational records as well. The first staff members began working in the building in 1935, though construction wasn’t complete until 1938.
During World War II, some worried that the capital could become a target of enemy bombers, so thousands of records were moved to the archives, which became known as “Fort Archives.” The archives also contributed to the war effort. They had War Department records from World War I, including detailed maps of Europe and the Pacific, which the military used to plan their offensives.
After the war, the archives were folded into the new General Services Administration (GSA), which managed government property and records. Many within the archives opposed this move, as it took some control away from the archives. They would function under the GSA for decades, before re-earning their independence on October 19, 1984. On that day, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation making the archives an independent agency, reporting only to the president. The archives also adopted its current name – the National Archives and Records Administration.
Today, the archives hold about 10 billion textual records, 12 million maps, charts, and engineer drawings, 50 million photographs, 300,000 motion picture reels, 400,000 video and sound recordings, and 133 terabytes of electronic data.