US #5474
2020 Alain Locke – Voices of the Harlem Renaissance
• One of four stamps issued for the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Harlem Renaissance
Value: 55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: May 21, 2020
First Day City: New York, New York
Quantity Issued: 16,000,000
Printed b... more
US #5474
2020 Alain Locke – Voices of the Harlem Renaissance
• One of four stamps issued for the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Harlem Renaissance
Value: 55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: May 21, 2020
First Day City: New York, New York
Quantity Issued: 16,000,000
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Panes of 20
Tagging: Phosphor, Block Tag
Why the stamp was issued: To commemorate writer, philosopher, educator, and arts advocate Alain Locke and his role in the Harlem Renaissance.
About the stamp design: Pictures a pastel portrait of Alain Locke by Gary Kelley.
Special design details: The backgrounds of the stamp includes African-inspired symbols and themes. The selvage of the pane of 20 includes the silhouette of a city with the sun in the middle.
First Day City: The First Day of Issue Ceremony was cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The First Day Cancel was from New York, New York, the city known as the very center of the Harlem Renaissance.
About the Harlem Renaissance set: Four stamps issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance, its contributions to literature and the arts, and the growing influence of Black Americans on culture. Stamps honor Alain Locke, Nella Larsen, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, and Anne Spencer.
History the stamp represents: Alain Locke was born in Philadelphia on September 13, 1885, to two prominent members of the African American community. His father was the first African American employee of the United States Postal Service. His mother was a teacher, encouraging her son’s love for learning from a young age. Locke went on to study at Harvard University, becoming the first African American Rhodes Scholar.
Locke attempted to enroll at several colleges at Oxford University. He was denied by most due to his race, but was finally accepted into Hertford College. There, he studied literature, philosophy, Greek, and Latin before attending the University of Berlin.
Locke earned his PhD in philosophy from Harvard in 1918. He became chair of the philosophy department at Howard University, but was fired after teaching classes on race relations. He was later reinstated, and worked at the university until his retirement in 1953.
With his background in philosophy and language, it is no surprise that Locke became a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. In fact, today, he is known as the “Dean” of the movement. Martin Luther King Jr. included him among the greats, saying, “We’re going to let our children know that the only philosophers that lived were not Plato and Aristotle, but W.E.B. Du Bois and Alain Locke came through the universe.”
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