# 5838 - 2024 First-Class Forever Stamp - Jermain Loguen, Underground Railroad

US #5838
2024 Jermain Loguen – Underground Railroad

• Honors Jermain Loguen and his journey to freedom through the Underground Railroad and his establishment of a station on the railroad later on

Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Underground Railroad
Value: 68¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: March 9, 2024
First Day City: Church Creek, Maryland
Quantity Issued: 20,000,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Panes of 20
Watermark: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag Applied

Why the stamp was issued: To commemorate Black abolitionist and “King of the Underground Railroad,” Jermain Loguen.

About the stamp design: Pictures a sepia-toned portrait of Jermain Loguen along with eight lines of text which read: BLACK/WHITE; COOPERATION; TRUST/DANGER; FLIGHT/FAITH; COURAGE/RISK; DEFIANCE/HOPE; UNDERGROUND; RAILROAD/USA. Designed by Antonio Alcalá using an existing image.

Special design details: On the reverse side of the pane of 20, there is a map picturing routes taken on the Underground Railroad from the South to North. The reverse side also includes a list of people pictured on the stamps plus biographical information on them.

First Day City: The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Church Creek, Maryland.

About the Underground Railroad set: Pictures 10 people who made their way to freedom or helped others reach freedom through the Underground Railroad. Includes: Harriet Tubman, Thomas Garrett, William Still, Harriet Jacobs, Jermain Loguen, Catherine Coffin, Lewis Hayden, Frederick Douglass, William Lambert, and Laura Haviland.

History the stamp represents: Reverend Jermain Wesley Loguen (February 5, 1813 – September 30, 1872) was a Black abolitionist, bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and author. He was born Jarm Logue in Davidson County, Tennessee, but escaped enslavement at age 21 by following the Underground Railroad to Canada. Once there, he changed his name and learned to read before moving to New York.

Loguen studied at the Oneida Institute in Whitesboro, New York, and later helped open schools for Black children in and around Utica and Syracuse. He became a teacher and minister, spending time in various cities across the state. Eventually, Loguen and his wife, Caroline, settled in Syracuse. There, they established a major depot on the Underground Railroad, building a special “fugitive chamber” into their own home. They never hid their operations, going so far as to publish advertisements in local newspapers about how runaway slaves could get help.

Not only did the Loguens help fugitive slaves escape, but they also helped them find jobs if they settled nearby. Due to their extensive work, their hometown of Syracuse, New York, became known as the most abolitionist city in the United States. In fact, Jermain Loguen was nicknamed the “King of the Underground Railroad.”