US #5555
2021 August Wilson – Black Heritage Series

• Honors award-winning Black playwright August Wilson
• 44th stamp in the Black Heritage series

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Series:  Black Heritage
Value:  55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  January 28, 2021
First Day City:  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Quantity Issued:  45,000,000
Printed by:  Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method:  Offset, Microprint
Format:  Panes of 20
Tagging:  Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag

Why the stamp was issued:  To honor well-known Black playwright August Wilson. His accomplishments make him a fitting addition to the long-running Black Heritage Series of stamps.

About the stamp design:  Pictures an oil painting of Wilson based on a 2005 photograph. The background includes a picket fence, referencing one of Wilson’s most popular plays – Fences.

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held virtually due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The First Day of Issue Postmark was from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the city in which Wilson grew up and which he also set a number of his plays.

About the Black Heritage Series:  The Black Heritage Series began on February 1, 1978, with the issue of the 13¢ Harriet Tubman stamp (US #1744). Since then, the USPS has issued a new stamp in the series every year. A number of them have even been released in February in recognition of Black History month.

History the stamp represents:  On January 28, 2021, the USPS issued the 44th stamp in the Black Heritage Series. It honors award-winning playwright August Wilson, best known for a series of ten plays called The Pittsburgh Cycle.

Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel Jr. on April 27, 1945, and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His neighborhood was poor and home to mostly African Americans and Jewish and Italian immigrants. Wilson faced difficulties throughout his childhood due to his mixed parentage. He was treated as an outsider by both African American and white culture until later in life.

Wilson dropped out of high school at age 16 and spent much of his free time at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was there so often that the library later awarded him an honorary high school diploma. He found inspiration in works by Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, and others.

Wilson began fulfilling his dream of becoming a writer at age 20, and wrote and directed his first play a few years later. In 1978, Wilson moved to Minnesota, and later began a fellowship with The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. From there, his work took off. He became one of history’s best playwrights and brought African American theater to great acclaim.