# 5753 - 2023 First-Class Forever Stamp - Ernest J. Gaines

U.S. #5753
2023 Ernest J. Gaines
Black Heritage Series

• Honors Black author Ernest J. Gaines
• 46^th stamp in the Black Heritage Series.

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Black Heritage Series
Value:  63¢ 1-ounce First-class Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  January 23, 2023
First Day City:  Lafayette, LA
Quantity Issued:  35,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset, Microprint
Format:  Pane of 20
Self-Adhesive

Why the stamp was issued:  This stamp was issued to honor well-known Black writer Ernest J. Gaines, a fitting addition to the long-running Black Heritage Series of stamps.

About the stamp design:  The stamp design pictures an oil painting of Gaines based on a photograph taken in 2001 by Raoul Benavides.

First Day City:  This stamp’s First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana.  An appropriate location given the time Gaines spent teaching creative writing at the university (then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana).

About the Black Heritage Series:  As of 2023, the Black Heritage Series was the USPS’s longest-running stamp series.  It 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:  Ernest James Gaines (January 15, 1933 – November 5, 2019) was an American author known for his works on race, community, and culture in the South.  He earned many awards including the National Humanities Medal, National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, and more.

Gaines was born on River Lake Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, to Adrian Jefferson and Manuel Gaines.  The family lived in old slave quarters and Gaines’s parents worked on the plantation until they moved to California when he was eight.  Gaines stayed behind and was raised by his great aunt.  He later credited her with teaching him many of the things he needed to become a writer.

Gaines followed his parents to California at age 15 and graduated from high school in Vallejo before serving in the US Army.  While in the Army, he won a creative writing contest, inspiring him to attend San Francisco State College when he was discharged.  He then won a creative writing fellowship at Stanford University where his writing career began to take off.  Gaines published his first novel, Catherine Carmier, in 1964.  The rest is history.  He went on to publish many novels and short stories to great critical acclaim.  He received honorary doctorates from 19 universities and his writing continues to inspire us to this day.