Updated December 4th: The Scott catalogue number for this issue is 5251.
Updated September 26th: A new first-day date has been sent. From the USPS:
U.S. Postal Service Honors the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Forever Stamp On Sale Oct. 13
What:
First-Day-of-Issue dedication ceremony for the Celebrating African American History and Culture Forever stamp. This stamp will be on sale at the ceremony and available nationwide on Friday, Oct. 13.
Who:
- Ronald A. Stroman, Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Government Relations Officer, U.S. Postal Service
- Lonnie Bunch, Founding Director, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution
When: Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, 8:30 a.m.
(Note: RSVP is required to attend the ceremony. Please RSVP online at usps.com/nmaahc. Check your email for a confirmation from the Postal Service with additional instructions. This event is standing room only. Doors open at
7:30 a.m.
Where:
National Museum of African American History and Culture
1400 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20560
(Note: Enter the museum through the 14th Street and Madison Drive entrance.)
The U.S. Postal Service will post a video of the event at facebook.com/USPS. Share the news on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtags #NMAAHC and #APeoplesJourney.
Background:
Black history is inseparable from American history, and the black experience represents a profound and unique strand of the American story. This stamp issuance recognizes the richness of that experience by celebrating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.
The stamp art is based on a photograph of the museum showing a view of the northwest corner of the building. Text in the upper-left corner of the stamp reads “National Museum of African American History and Culture.”
Opened on Sept. 24, 2016, the National Museum of African American History and Culture is the 19th Smithsonian museum and the only national museum devoted exclusively to African American life, art, history and culture. The museum’s collections, which include art, artifacts, photographs, films, documents, data, books, manuscripts and audio recordings, represent all regions of the United States and acknowledge the cultural links of African Americans to the black experience around the world as well. The museum provides opportunities for the public to explore and enjoy African American history while demonstrating the centrality of that history to our nation’s past, present and future.
Updated August 30th: This stamp has been postponed until later in the year. The new date has not yet been announced.
Updated August 7th: Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue:
The Digital Color Postmark measures 3.0″ x 1.45″. 
The B&W “rubber-composition” (hand) cancel measures 2.30″ x 1.49″.
Updated August 3rd: From the Postal Bulletin, at long last, an issue date and details.
On September 24, 2017, in Washington, DC, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the Celebrating African American History and Culture stamp (Forever® priced at 49 cents) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 474200). The stamp will go on sale nationwide September 24, 2017.
This issuance recognizes the richness of the black experience by celebrating the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Occupying a 5-acre site on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the museum is the 19th Smithsonian museum and the only national museum devoted exclusively to African American life, art, history, and culture.
Text in the upper left corner of the stamp reads “National Museum of African American History and Culture.” Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp.
Stamp Fulfillment Services will make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices™ of a quantity to cover approximately 30 days of sales.
How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-782-6724. 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 – Celebrating African American History and Culture 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 November 24, 2017.
Philatelic products for this stamp issue are as follows:
- 474206 Press Sheet with Die-cut, $88.20
- 474210 Digital Color Postmark Keepsake, $11.95
- 474216 First-Day Cover, $0.93
- 474221 Digital Color Postmark, $1.64
- 474224 Framed Art, $29.95
- 474230 Ceremony Program, $6.95
- 474233 Panel, $10.95
Technical Specifications:
Issue: Celebrating African American History and Culture Stamp
Item Number: 474200
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail® Forever
Format: Pane of 20 (1 design)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: September 24, 2017, Washington, DC 20066
Designer: Antonio Alcalà, Alexandria, VA
Art Director: Antonio Alcalà, Alexandria, VA
Typographer: Antonio Alcalà, Alexandria, VA
Existing Photo: Alan Karchmer
Modeler: Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Printed at: Browns Summit, NC
Press Type: Alprinta 74
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 15,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor Tagged Paper, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit NC
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): 1.42 x 1.085 in/36.07 x 27.56 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.56 x 1.225 in/39.62 x 31.12 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 7.24 x 7.50 in/183.90 x 190.5 mm
Press Sheets Size (w x h): 21.72 x 22.50 in/551.69 x 571.5 mm
Plate Size: 180 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “B” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: Header: Celebrating African American History and Culture • Plate numbers in two corners of pane
Back: © 2016 USPS • USPS logo • Plate position diagram • Barcode (474200) in upper right and lower left corners of pane • Promotional text
From the USPS, September 20, 2016:
[Technically, “Celebrating African American History and Culture,”] this stamp celebrates the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Occupying a 5-acre site on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The museum is the 19th Smithsonian museum and the only national museum devoted exclusively to African-American life, art, history and culture. The stamp is based on a photograph of the museum by Alan Karchmer showing a view of the northwest corner of the building. Text in the upper left corner reads “National Museum of African American History and Culture.” Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp.
It measures 2.94″ x 1.31″. There is also a “special” postmark that local stations may use: 
It measures 2.98″ x 1.50″.
On January 5, 2017, in Seattle, WA, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the Year of the Rooster First-Class Mail stamp (Forever priced at 47 cents), in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 12 stamps (Item 552000). The Year of the Rooster $5.64 pane of 12 stamps may not be split, and the stamps may not be sold individually.
Only the pictorial postmark shown here is permitted for the Year of the Rooster stamp. The word “Station” or the abbreviation “STA” is required somewhere in the design, because it will be a temporary station.
It measures 3.0″ x 1.5″.
BACKGROUND:
All but two of the issues appear to be what the USPS calls (or has called) “mail-use:” Issues for specific rates (Uncle Sam’s Hat, additional ounces; California Dogface Butterfly, nonmachineable surcharge rate) or will be issued as booklets for the non-collecting mailing public: sharks, flowers, flag, and so on. The John F. Kennedy stamp design is in the definitive format (height/width ratio). [In response to an e-mailed question, the USPS said that the JFK stamp is “a semi-jumbo stamp” with “a similar aspect ratio to our “special” sized stamps, but is proportionally larger.”] The exceptions are Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, although that may be a two-ounce stamp, and the museum.
The United States entered “the War to End All Wars” — World War I — in 1917. Some historians feel this was the point at which the U.S. became a major world power, because the Americans turned the tide in the war. It would be shocking if the USPS does not issue at least one stamp for this historical event, and surprising if not several. (Israel’s 2016 stamp is shown on the left.)
The Postal Service celebrates posters of the Work Projects Administration (WPA), striking and utilitarian artworks created by the Poster Division of the WPA Federal Art Project. Each stamp features a vibrant example of the posters conceived and printed in workshops across the nation under the WPA, a broad-reaching program that provided millions of jobs during the Great Depression. Formed in 1935 as the Works Progress Administration and renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939, the WPA lasted until 1943. Poster images are from Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, WPA Poster Collection. Antonio Alcalá served as the art director and designed the stamps with Maribel O. Gray.
This issuance celebrates the wonder of sharks with a pane of 20 stamps featuring realistic images of five species that inhabit American waters: mako shark, represented here by a shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus); thresher shark, here a pelagic thresher (Alopias pelagicus); great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias); whale shark (Rhincodon typus); and hammerhead shark, this one a scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini). Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp pane with original artwork by Sam Weber.
With the new U.S. Flag stamp, the Postal Service continues its tradition of celebrating patriotism with one of the most recognizable symbols of the nation. The stamp features a detail from a photograph of the billowing Stars and Stripes. Terrence W. McCaffrey was the art director and Greg Breeding designed the stamp with an existing photograph of the flag taken by Tom Grill.
The Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh (1917-2015) was an important mid-20th century educational, religious and civic leader. The stamp features an oil-on-panel painting of Father Hesburgh standing on the University of Notre Dame campus, where he served as president for 35 years. Appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 1957, Father Hesburgh helped compile reports on racial discrimination and the denial of voting rights that resulted in the Omnibus Civil Rights Act of 1964. A champion of causes ranging from education to immigration reform to the plight of underdeveloped nations, Father Hesburgh worked with many important organizations that reflected his beliefs. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp with original art by Tim O’Brien.
Flowers from the Garden features new stamps with four different paintings of flowers that come from typical American gardens, each bunch artfully arranged. One stamp features red camellias and yellow forsythia in a yellow pitcher, while on another there are white peonies and pink tree peonies in a clear vase. An arrangement of white hydrangeas, white and pink roses, green hypericum berries, and purple lisianthus in a white vase graces another stamp, while blue hydrangeas in a blue pot appear on another. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps with existing art by Elizabeth Brandon.
With the release of the new Delicioso Forever stamps, the Postal Service celebrates the influence of Central and South American, Mexican and Caribbean foods on American cuisine. This booklet of 20 stamps features six dishes from an array of Latin American culinary traditions that have found new life and variations in the United States. Each stamp showcases a bright and playful illustration of one of the following dishes: tamales, flan, sancocho, empanadas, chile relleno and ceviche. The names of the six dishes appear in a festive font above each image. Artist John Parra designed the stamps under the direction of Antonio Alcalá.
With the release of Uncle Sam’s Hat in 2017, the Postal Service celebrates one of the country’s most popular patriotic characters. Known especially for his large top hat decorated in varying patterns of stars and stripes, Uncle Sam has represented the bravery and fortitude of the American spirit for more than 150 years. The stamp features eight graphic top hats in Uncle Sam’s signature style. Red and white vertical stripes extend above a blue band with a white star and a gray brim. Beneath each hat is an oval shape representing a face, each in a different shade, meant to suggest the ethnic and racial diversity of the United States. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp. The words “ADDITIONAL OUNCE” on this stamp indicate its usage value. Like a Forever stamp, this stamp will always be valid for the rate printed on it.
Four new postcard stamps celebrate the wonder of seashells. Each stamp depicts an iconic shell found in North American waters: the alphabet cone, the Pacific calico scallop, the zebra nerite, and the Queen conch, commonly known as the pink conch. The highly stylized stamp art expresses a lighthearted artistic view of shells. Horizontal swaths of white and blue in the background suggest waves washing the shells onto a beach. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps. Sergio Baradat created the stamp art.
The California dogface graces the seventh non-machineable butterfly stamp for use on irregularly sized envelopes, such as square greeting cards, invitations or announcements. The stamp is a highly stylized, simplified image of a California dogface (Zerene eurydice) Ñ named for the forewing markings of the male butterfly, which bear a pattern that resembles a poodle head in profile. Greeting card envelopes printed with a silhouette of a butterfly indicate the need for additional postage or the use of a butterfly stamp. Tom Engeman created the stamp andÊ art director Derry Noyes designed it.
The Postal Service celebrates a favorite backyard bird on this Barn Swallow stamped envelope. It features a large illustration of a barn swallow perching and a smaller illustration above it, showing the bird in flight. The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) originally nested in caves. As man-made structures began to dot the North American landscape, barn swallows adapted by building their mud nests under the eaves of barns, houses and bridges. Barn swallows are acrobatic flyers, and a single bird can catch and consume thousands of insects in one day. Art director William J. Gicker designed the stamp with original art by Matthew Frey.
