Announced October 23, 2023:
From the time slavery was introduced to the Colonies until it was abolished in 1865, enslaved people tried to escape. This stamp issuance commemorates the Underground Railroad, as their resistance efforts became known. The pane of 20 stamps features 10 sepia-toned portraits of men and women who escaped slavery and/or helped others escape: Catharine Coffin, Frederick Douglass, Thomas Garrett, Laura Haviland, Lewis Hayden, Harriet Jacobs, William Lambert, Jermain Loguen, William Still and Harriet Tubman. Below each portrait are eight lines of text: BLACK/WHITE; COOPERATION; TRUST/DANGER; FLIGHT/FAITH; COURAGE/RISK; DEFIANCE/HOPE; UNDERGROUND; RAILROAD/USA. On the pane’s verso is a map showing the general routes freedom seekers followed and a list of individuals pictured on the stamps with a few words of biographical information about each. Antonio Alcalá, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps using existing images.
Further information will be posted below the line, with the newest information at the top.
Updated May 7th:
The Scott catalogue numbers for this issue are
5834 Harriet Tubman
5835 Thomas Garrett
5836 William Still
5837 Harriet Jacobs
5838 Jermain Loguen
5839 Catherine Coffin
5840 Lewis Hayden
5841 Frederick Douglass
5842 William Lambert
5843 Laura Haviland
b. Block of 10, #5834-5843
(add “a” for imperforate versions)
Updated April 16th:
The USPS has added a philatelic product: 484633 Commemorative Panel, $12.95
Updated March 7th:
[ceremony information] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
U.S. Postal Service Remembers Shining Beacons of the Underground Railroad on New Forever Stamps
What: The U.S. Postal Service is honoring 10 courageous men and women who helped 
guide enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad, network of secret routes and safehouses in use before the Civil War.
The first-day-of-issue event for the Underground Railroad stamps is free and open to the public. News of the Forever stamps is being shared with the hashtag #UndergroundRailroadStamps.
Who: The Honorable Ronald A. Stroman, member of the USPS Board of Governors and dedicating official
When: Saturday, March 9, 2024, at 11 a.m. EST
Where: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center
4068 Golden Hill Road
Church Creek, MD 21622
RSVP: Attendees are encouraged to register at usps.com/undergroundrailroad.
Background: From the time slavery was introduced to the Colonies until it was abolished in 1865, enslaved people made ceaseless efforts to escape its reach. The flight to freedom, whether by foot, horseback, carriage, wagon or boat, was difficult and exceedingly dangerous.
In name only, The Underground Railroad started as a loosely organized secret network of courageous and imaginative freedom seekers, and the brave operatives who assisted them. Over time the network coalesced into a well-organized system as it responded to the increasing numbers of freedom seekers and a corresponding rise in attempts to thwart escapes.
Most remained anonymous, but some left their mark on history, including the 10 men and women honored on these Forever stamps: Catharine Coffin, Frederick Douglass, Thomas Garrett, Laura Haviland, Lewis Hayden, Harriet Jacobs, William Lambert, the Rev. Jermain Loguen, William Still, and Harriet Tubman.
Updated February 22nd:
The USPS made corrections to the technical details (press type and number of stamps per pane). They have been changed below.
Updated February 9th:
Here is what the reverse of the pane looks like:
And this is what a full pane looks like: 
Updated February 8th:
Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue:
The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.97″ x 1.49″
The Pictorial Postmark measures 2.50″ x 1.12″
From the Postal Bulletin:
On March 9, 2024, in Church Creek, MD, the United States Postal Service® will issue The Underground Railroad stamps (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate) in 10 designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 484600). These stamps will go on sale nationwide March 9, 2024, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue. The Underground Railroad commemorative pane of 20 stamps must not be split and the stamps must not be sold individually.
From the time slavery was introduced to the Colonies until it was abolished in 1865, enslaved people tried to escape it. This stamp issuance commemorates the Underground Railroad, as their resistance efforts became known. The pane of 20 stamps depicts 10 men and women who escaped slavery or helped others escape. The top third of each stamp features a sepia-toned portrait of one individual:
Catharine Coffin,- Frederick Douglass,
- Thomas Garrett,
- Laura Haviland,
- Lewis Hayden,
- Harriet Jacobs,
- William Lambert,
- Rev. Jermain Loguen,
- William Still, and
- Harriet Tubman.
Below each portrait are eight lines of text: BLACK/WHITE; COOPERATION; TRUST/DANGER; FLIGHT/FAITH; COURAGE/RISK; DEFIANCE/HOPE; UNDERGROUND; RAILROAD/USA. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamps using existing photographs.
Availability to Post Offices: Item 484600, The Underground Railroad (Forever Priced at the First-Class Mail Rate) Pane of 20 Stamps: Automatic Distribution
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 store.usps.com/store/home. 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 – The Underground Railroad Stamps
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 July 9, 2024.
Technical Specifications:
Issue: The Underground Railroad Stamps
Item Number: 484600
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20 (10 designs)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: March 9, 2024, Church Creek, MD 21622
Art Director: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Designer: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Typographer: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset
Printer: Ashton Potter
Press Type: Muller A76
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 20,000,000
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag Applied
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.8400 x 1.4200 in. / 21.3360 x 36.0680 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.9800 x 1.5600 in. / 24.8920 x 39.6240 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 5.9200 x 7.6250 in. / 150.3680 x 193.6750 mm
Press Sheets Size (w x h): 11.8400 x 22.8750 in. / 300.7360 x 581.0250 mm
Plate Size: 240 stamps per revolution
Plate Number: “P” followed by four (4) single digits in bottom two corners
Marginal Markings:
Front: Header: THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD • Plate number in bottom two corners
Back: Header: NETWORK TO FREEDOM • Routes of the Underground Railroad • Descriptive text for each stamp honoree • © 2023 USPS • USPS logo • One barcode (484600) • Plate position diagram (6) • Promotional text
Updated January 7th:
Not mentioned in the Wikipedia entry for Church Creek, for some reason, is that it has the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park! However, the stamps’ issuance is not on the site’s calendar. Wikipedia does have a listing for the park itself.
Updated November 30th:
These stamps will be issued Saturday, March 9, in Church Creek, MD [Wikipedia], on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Opinion: To much Text, Not enough Picture…
I totally agree. I don’t sense at all to have all the text. That text should have been put above the stamp page and show the people images.
And the same text is repeated on each stamp….would be nice to show their role in the railroad.
I do like that they featured multiple people in the same issue, rather than try and pick one or two people to represent the entirety of a complex history.
Where is the stamp for William Lloyd Garrison?
Inexcusable omission.
Makes for a nice day trip …
I’m thinking about it, but it’s almost four hours (per Google Maps) from my house, almost two hours from my daughter-in-law and son’s house in Northern Va. or from DC. I do see reasonably priced motels in Cambridge, Md.
where to signup for the event???
Can you post a photo of the underground railway map which is on the reverse side of the pane of 20 stamps?
I’ve requested one.
Philip, the reverse is now posted.
The press rep responsible for this issue is looking for that map illustration for us.
Any word yet on reserving a spot for that FD Ceremony?
Not yet.
From Post Bull 07 FEB 24: Sold as Full Pane-20 only. USPS# 484604 Set of 10 First Day Cancels in B/W and Color. ( #16 $12.30, #21 $2080 ) These WILL BE on Automatic Distribution. Lots of ‘Stuff’ Already on usps.com under ‘Collectors’.
One negative to issuing 10 stamps honorng 10 people all at once is that each person is getting short shrift. In looking up the individuals in The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations (2008), there are some fascinating stories. For example, Thomas Garrett was bankrupted by a federal court’s fine in 1848, but kept helping slaves escape. The Maryland state legislature put a $10,000 bounty on him — the same as $390,000 today!