From the U.S. Postal Service announcement on October 22, 2019:
The 43rd stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Gwen Ifill (1955–2016), one of America’s most esteemed journalists. The stamp features a photo of Ifill taken in 2008 by photographer Robert Severi. Among the first African Americans to hold prominent positions in both broadcast and print journalism, Ifill was a trailblazer in the profession. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.
This stamp was issued Thursday, January 30th in Washington, DC.
The Scott catalogue number for this issue is 5432.
Additional information will be posted below the line, with the most recent at the top.
January 29th:
ESPER – the Ebony Society for Philatelic Events and Reflections – is organizing group photos of New Jersey ESPER members buying the Gwen Ifill stamp on its first day (Thursday, January 30th).
The times are 10:15 a.m. at the Scotch Plains post office (536 Park Avenue) and 1:15 p.m. at the Judge Shirley Tolentino/Bergen South Post Office in Jersey City (369 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.)
December 23rd:
[press release]
U.S. Postal Service Issuing Gwen Ifill Black Heritage Forever Stamp Jan. 30
What: The 43rd stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Gwen Ifill, one of the nation’s 
most esteemed journalists. The stamp art features a photo of Ifill taken in 2008 by photographer Robert Severi. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.
The Gwen Ifill stamp will be issued in panes of 20.
The stamp dedication ceremony is free and open to the public. News of the stamp is being shared with the hashtags #GwenIfillForever and #BlackHeritageStamps.
Who: Ronald A. Stroman, Deputy Postmaster General, U.S. Postal Service and Dedicating Official
When: Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020, at 11 a.m. EST
Where:
Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church
1518 M Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
RSVP: Dedication ceremony attendees are encouraged to RSVP at usps.com/gwenifillblackheritage
Background:
Gwen Ifill was among the first African Americans to hold prominent positions in both broadcast and print journalism.
After graduating from college in 1977, Ifill worked at The Boston Herald American, The Baltimore Evening Sun, The Washington Post and The New York Times. In 1994, she took a broadcast job at NBC, where she covered politics in the DC bureau. Five years later, she joined PBS; she became the senior political correspondent for “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” and moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week” — the first woman and first African American to moderate a major television news-analysis show.
In 2013, she became co-anchor of the “PBS NewsHour,” part of the first all-female team to anchor a national nightly news program. Ifill died in 2016.
Among Ifill’s honors were the Radio Television Digital News Foundation’s Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award (2006), Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center’s Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism (2009) and induction into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame (2012). In 2015, she was awarded the Fourth Estate Award by the National Press Club. She received numerous honorary degrees and served on the boards of the News Literacy Project and the Committee to Protect Journalists, which renamed its Press Freedom Award in her honor.
The 2016 John Chancellor Award was posthumously awarded to Ifill by the Columbia Journalism School. In 2017, the Washington Press Club Foundation and the “PBS NewsHour” created a journalism fellowship named for Ifill. Her alma mater, Simmons University, opened the Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities in 2018.
December 20th: Here are the first day cancels for this issue: 
The Digital Color Postmark for this issue 2.49″x1.20″ 
The B&W pictorial for this issue measures 2.46″ x 1.08″ 
The “special” postmark measures 2.82″ x 1.15″
December 19th: From the Postal Bulletin
On January 30, 2020, in Washington, DC, the United States Postal Service will issue the Gwen Ifill stamp (Forever priced at the First-Class Mail rate) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive pane of 20 stamps (Item 475800). The stamp will go on sale nationwide January 30, 2020, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue.
The 43rd stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Gwen Ifill (1955–2016), one of America’s most esteemed journalists. The stamp art features a photo of Ifill taken in 2008 by photographer Robert Severi. Among the first African Americans to hold prominent positions in both broadcast and print journalism, Ifill was a trailblazer in the profession. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.
Availability to Post Offices: Item 475800, Gwen Ifill (Forever Priced at the First-Class Mail Rate) Commemorative Pane of 20 Stamps: Stamp Fulfillment Services will make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices of a quantity to cover approximately 30 days of sales.
There is a Special Dedication Postmark for this issue.
How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™ or at The Postal Store website at usps.com/shop. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
FDOI – Gwen Ifill Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by May 30, 2020.
Technical Specifications:
Issue: Gwen Ifill Stamp
Item Number: 475800
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20 (1 design)
Series: Black Heritage
Issue Date & City: January 30, 2020, Washington, DC 20066
Art Director: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Designer: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Typographer: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Existing Photo: Robert Severi
Modeler: Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Press Type: Alprinta 74
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 40,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor Tagged Paper Block
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Banknote Corporation of America
Colors: Custom Gray, Pantone 2715, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.84 x 1.42 in/21.336 x 36.068 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.98 x 1.56 in/24.892 x 39.624 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 6 x 8.5 in/152.4 x 215.9 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 12 x 25.75 in/304.8 x 654.05 mm
Plate Size: 240 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “B” followed by six (6) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: Header: BLACK HERITAGE, Celebrating Gwen Ifill, 43RD IN A SERIES • Plate number in bottom two corners
Back: ©2019 USPS • USPS Logo • Two barcodes (475800) • Plate position diagram (6) • Promotional text
October 23rd: PBS has noted this stamp. The story is here.
From the U.S. Postal Service announcement on October 22, 2019:
and here are just the 12 masks, taken from the selvage to make them easier to see. 
The B&W pictorial measures 2.62″ x 1.22″
Lunar New Year: Year of the Rat stamp (Forever priced at the First-Class Mail rate) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive pane of 20 stamps (Item 475600). The stamp will go on sale nationwide January 11, 2020, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue. The Lunar New Year: Year of the Rat pane of 20 stamps may not be split and the stamps may not be sold individually.
VSC member Mike DePaz at the first day ceremony. 
A large cover created by DePaz containing all the stamps in both the booklet and coil formats, with autographs of ceremony participants, plus the first-day ceremony program. 
Jim Fowler, the photographer of the images used on the stamps, holds DePaz’s jumbo FDC.
Someone canceling covers at the ceremony site. Photographs courtesy Mike DePaz.
The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.38″ x 1.46″ 
The B&W pictorial postmark measures 2.0″ x 1.23″
On February 21, 2020, in Coral Gables, FL, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue Wild Orchids stamps (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate) in 10 designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) booklet of 20 stamps (Item 682500), a PSA Coil of 3,000 stamps (Item 750400), and a PSA Coil of 10,000 stamps (Item 760700). The stamps will go on sale nationwide February 21, 2020, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue.
Issue: Wild Orchids Stamps
Print Quantity: 15,000,000 stamps
Item Number: 760700
Print Quantity: 50,000,000 stamps
are preliminary and subject to change.
Made of Hearts is a continuation of the Postal Service tradition of creating stamps that celebrate love. The stamp features horizontal lines of red and pink hearts on a white background. Toward the center, red hearts in varying sizes replace pink hearts in a formation that creates one large red heart, the focal point of this graphic design. This stamp is just right for thank-you notes, get-well cards or any occasion when love is the perfect message. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp.
In 2020, the Postal Service issues Let’s Celebrate!, a new stamp that adds fun to celebratory greeting cards, invitations and gift-bearing envelopes and packages. No matter the occasion — birthday, anniversary, holiday, engagement, new job, retirement — Let’s Celebrate! helps send cheer along with well wishes. The stamp features an array of colorful circles in varying sizes arranged in a random pattern. The letters in the word “celebrate,” cast in a dark green hue, appear inside several brightly colored circles on a white background. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp.
This stamp honors champion golfer Arnold Palmer (1929–2016). With drive and charisma, he helped transform a game once seen as a pastime for the elite into a sport enjoyed by the masses. The stamp features James Drake’s action photograph of Palmer at the 1964 United States Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp.
This stamp celebrates the 200th anniversary of Maine statehood. Nicknamed the Pine Tree State, Maine became the 23rd state in the Union on Mar. 15, 1820. American painter Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was among the many prominent artists who sought the tranquility of the state’s coastal towns during the summer. His painting “Sea at Ogunquit” (1914) captures the rugged beauty characteristic of Maine. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.
Contemporary Boutonniere is a new Forever stamp similar in design to the new 2-ounce Garden Corsage stamp. It can be used for wedding RSVP cards and is also perfect for party invitations, thank-you notes, announcements, birthday cards, Father’s Day cards and other occasions when a beautiful stamp is fitting. The stamp features a photograph of an arrangement of a burgundy mini-cymbidium orchid bloom, a succulent and a touch of green hydrangea, accented with loops of variegated lily grass. These materials are on trend for today’s modern designs, as arranged by floral designer Carol Caggiano and photographed by Renée Comet. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp.
The Postal Service introduces Garden Corsage, a new 2-ounce stamp. This stamp can accommodate the weight of heavy invitations for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and other celebrations, oversize greeting cards for all occasions, and mailings such as small gifts that require extra postage. The stamp features a photograph of a corsage containing a spray of peach roses and a pink ranunculus, accented with deep-pink heather and seeded eucalyptus. A cream-colored lace ribbon entwines the flowers. Garden Corsage is similar in design to the Contemporary Boutonniere Forever stamp, and the two form a natural pair. The corsage was arranged by floral designer Carol Caggiano and photographed by Renée Comet. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp.
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the Postal Service issues a stamp featuring a playful painting of the planet, with small green lines surrounding Earth and hand-lettered text. Art director Antonio Alcalá was the stamp artist and designer. Ricky Altizer was the typographer.
With these stamps the Postal Service celebrates the beauty of American gardens. This pane of 20 stamps features 10 different photographs of botanic, country estate and municipal gardens taken between 1996 and 2014. The gardens include: Biltmore Estate Gardens (North Carolina); Brooklyn Botanic Garden (New York); Chicago Botanic Garden (Illinois); Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Maine); Dumbarton Oaks Garden (District of Columbia); The Huntington Botanical Gardens (California); Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park (Florida); Norfolk Botanical Garden (Virginia); Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens (Ohio); and Winterthur Garden (Delaware). Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps with existing photographs by Allen Rokach.
These stamps celebrate one of the great artistic and literary movements in American history, the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, which firmly established African Americans as a vital force in literature and the arts. Twenty stamps showcase four stylized pastel portraits of these literary figures: writer, philosopher, educator and arts advocate Alain Locke; novelist Nella Larsen; bibliophile and historian Arturo Alfonso Schomburg; and poet Anne Spencer. African-inspired motifs are used as background elements of each portrait. The pane header shows a cityscape in silhouette with a sun in its midst and the title “Voices of the Harlem Renaissance.” The artist for these stamps was Gary Kelley. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps.
With the release of the Enjoy the Great Outdoors Forever stamps, the Postal Service celebrates the many ways individuals experience America’s abundance of natural beauty. These hand-sketched and painted designs depict five different scenes of outdoor activities — building a sand castle, hiking, cross-country skiing, canoeing and biking. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps with original art by Gregory Manchess.
The Postal Service celebrates hip hop with four new stamps in a pane of 20. Since its inception more than four decades ago, the electrifying music, dance and art movement has profoundly influenced American and global popular culture. The stamp art features photographs taken by Cade Martin that depict four elements of hip hop: MCing (rapping), b-boying (breakdancing), DJing and graffiti art. The bold, digitally tinted images are intended to appear in motion. The words “Forever” and “USA,” “Hip Hop,” and the name of the element featured appear across the top of each stamp. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamps, which are highlighted with a vivid yellow, green, red and black color scheme. The title of the stamps, printed in red and black, is centered on the top of the pane.
The Postal Service captures the classic beauty of still-life paintings in a booklet of 20 stamps featuring 10 different portraits of fruits and vegetables. Each stamp features a collection of one kind of fruit or vegetable: red and black plums, heirloom and cherry tomatoes, carrots, lemons, blueberries, red and green grapes, lettuces, strawberries, eggplants and figs. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps with existing art by Robert Papp.
In 2020, the Postal Service issues four new stamps in a booklet of 20 available for notes, cards and letters of thanks sent to acknowledge a favor, an act of kindness, a job well done or gifts sent for any occasion. Highlighted in gold foil are the words “Thank you” in cursive script and an elegant floral design that swirls through and around the words. Each stamp features one of four background colors: blue gray, deep blue, muted green or soft maroon. Greg Breeding was the art director. Dana Tanamachi was the stamp designer and lettering artist.
With this stamp, the Postal Service commemorates the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote. Inspired by historic photographs, the stamp features a stylized illustration of suffragists marching in a parade or other public demonstration. The clothes they wear and the banners they bear display the official colors of the National Woman’s Party — purple, white and gold. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp with original art by Nancy Stahl.
With this commemorative stamp, the Postal Service marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor. The stamp’s image is based on artwork of watercolor, acrylic and gouache, a method of painting that uses opaque pigments ground in water and thickened to a glue-like consistency. The painting was digitally refined to convey a scene of desolate beauty at the end of the Pilgrims’ long journey to an unfamiliar world. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp with original art by Greg Harlin.
In 2020, the Postal Service will offer the Presorted Star stamp, sold in self-adhesive coils of 3,000 and 10,000, intended for use by business mailers. This new stamp celebrates the beloved American Stars and Stripes by focusing on its vital components. The asymmetrical design includes one large white star, two white and three red stripes, and a brilliant blue background, as well as lettering and three small stars in gold. Greg Breeding was the art director and Matthew Pamer was the designer for the stamp. It will be issued Feb. 3. No dedication event is planned.
Chrysanthemum is a new Global Forever international rate stamp that can be used to mail a 1-ounce letter to any country where First-Class Mail International service is available. The stamp is round and features a photograph of a pink chrysanthemum on a white background. Taken from above, the photograph highlights the intricate beauty of the bloom. The art director was William J. Gicker. Greg Breeding designed the stamp with an existing photograph by Hong Vo. This stamp will be issued April 24 in Burlingame, CA. Details about the dedication event will be announced at a later date.
The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum will host the 16th Maynard Sundman Lecture Wednesday, Nov. 6, from noon to 1 p.m. in the museum’s Discovery Center. Admission is free, with no reservation required. The moderated discussion about the postal history of World War II will be held with Kees Adema and Jeffrey Groeneveld (L-R at left), co-authors of The Paper Trail: World War II in Holland and Its Colonies as Seen Through Mail and Documents.
The legislation followed a voluntary postal vote with 61.6 per cent voting “Yes” to the question, “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?”.
David Brine and Nick Higgins celebrate the postal vote result announcement on 15 November 2017 in Sydney and on the same day, Rebecca Davies and Paula Van Bruggen celebrate the result at the State Library, Melbourne.
Australia’s several major seed banks are associated with state, territory and council-run botanic gardens that collect and conserve wild native flora.
naked eye,” he said.
Petrophile latericola is listed as endangered and occurs naturally only in areas south-east of Busselton on Western Australia’s southern Swan Coastal Plain. Its shuttlecock-like seeds suggest they are dispersed by the wind. This seed image was captured by Andrew Crawford, Western Australian Seed Centre, Kensington.
“Megan Brennan is a devoted public servant who has helped lead the United States Postal Service through some very challenging circumstances,” said Robert M. Duncan, Chairman of the Board of Governors. “The Governors greatly appreciate her leadership and devotion to the Postal Service.”
Brennan expressed her sincere gratitude to the men and women of the United States Postal Service. “I have had the privilege to work with you over the course of my 33-year career. You embody the spirit of public service, you earn the trust of the American people every day, and you continually reinforce my reverence for this institution and my abiding belief in our mission.”
