Updated February 19th: Post-issuance press release
First African-American MIT Graduate, Black Architect, Immortalized on Limited Edition Forever Stamp
Robert Robinson Taylor becomes 38th Honoree into Black Heritage Stamp Series
WASHINGTON — Robert Robinson Taylor, believed to have been both the first African-American graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the nation’s first academically trained black architect was inducted into the Postal Service’s Black Heritage Stamp series today as the 38th honoree. His great granddaughter, White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett joined Postmaster General Megan Brennan in dedicating the stamp.
[L to R: -A’Lelia Bundles, President, National Archives Foundation; Allen Kane, Director, Smithsonian National Postal Museum; Dr. Bernard L. Richardson, Dean, Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Howard University; Dr. Rafael Reif, President, MIT; Megan Brennan, Postmaster General and CEO U.S. Postal Service; Valerie Jarrett, Sr. Advisor to the President; Dr. Brian Johnson, President, Tuskegee University; The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, Representative/Texas; The Honorable Eric Holder, Attorney General of the United States; Deputy Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman, USPS; Richard Kurin, Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture]
The first-day-of-issuance ceremony, which took place at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum, coincided with the opening of the museum’s “Freedom Around the Corner: Black America from the Civil War to Civil Rights” exhibit.
“Anytime I face a daunting challenge and self-doubt creeps in, I think of my great grandfather, Robert Taylor, the son of a slave, who traveled from Wilmington, NC, to attend M.I.T. in 1882,” said Jarrett (right). “He believed that with a good education, hard work, relentless determination and a dedication to family, there were no limits to what he could accomplish. The example he set gives me strength and courage. My family is proud to stand on his shoulders and we know that it is our responsibility to embrace his values, to ensure that his legacy will be ‘forever stamped’ in the conscious of future generations.”
“Robert Robinson Taylor expanded opportunities for African-Americans in fields that had largely been closed to them,” said Brennan, who earned her MBA from MIT. “Booker T. Washington recruited Taylor to the Tuskegee Institute to help show the world what an all-black institution could accomplish. Taylor designed and oversaw the construction of dozens of new buildings built in an elegant, dignified style that befitted his personality. But it was Tuskegee’s Chapel that Taylor considered to be his finest achievement and masterpiece. Washington referred to the graceful, round-arch structure as the ‘most imposing building’ at Tuskegee. As one of our nation’s calling cards, we hope this stamp will encourage more Americans to learn more about Robert Robinson Taylor’s life and career.”
Brennan is shown above with Deputy PMG Stroman, Attorney General Holder, and Jarrett.
Joining Brennan and Jarrett in the dedication were MIT President Dr. Rafael Reif; Tuskegee University President Dr. Brian Johnson; Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee member Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Smithsonian National Postal Museum Director Allen Kane.
For more than three decades, Taylor (1868–1942) supervised the design and construction of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama while also overseeing the school’s programs in industrial education and the building trades. Through his calm leadership and quiet dignity, he earned the admiration of colleagues and students alike while expanding opportunities for African-Americans in fields that had largely been closed to them.
Son of a Former Slave
Taylor was born June 6, 1868, in Wilmington, NC. His father was a former slave who had become a successful carpenter, contractor and merchant. From his father, Taylor learned carpentry and construction. After graduating from secondary school, he worked as a construction foreman before moving to Boston in 1888 to study in the architecture program at MIT.
Taylor’s studies were rigorous. He typically spent seven hours in class per day, and by his second year was taking as many as 10 courses per semester in such wide-ranging subjects as mechanics, acoustics, structural geology, heating, ventilation and sanitation, as well as in drawing, history, English and French. He earned honors in trigonometry, architectural history, differential calculus and applied mechanics, and was always at or near the top of his class.
Upon graduating, Taylor had several offers for teaching jobs, including an invitation from educator and activist Booker T. Washington to work at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Tuskegee, AL. Washington had founded the school in 1881 not only to help African-Americans acquire valuable practical skills, but also to show the world what an all-black institution could accomplish.
Developed Tuskegee’s Architectural Curriculum
When Taylor arrived at Tuskegee in 1892, he was both a beginning architect and a busy teacher of architectural and mechanical drawing to students in all industrial trades, including building construction. Before the decade was over, he had established a beginning architecture curriculum that included carpentry, cost estimation, training in drawing building plans and the study of construction problems. Tuskegee soon began offering a certificate in architectural drawing, which would help graduates enter collegiate architecture programs or win entry-level positions in architectural offices. Taylor’s efforts furthered Washington’s dream of producing not just African-American builders and carpenters, but designers and architects who planned the buildings as well.
Designer of Tuskegee’s Campus
At the same time, Taylor set about designing and building the Tuskegee campus. Upon his arrival, the school was an assortment of cottages, cabins, and simple wood-frame or brick buildings scattered across an abandoned plantation. In the years following, Taylor designed and oversaw the construction of dozens of new, state-of-the-art buildings, from libraries and dormitories to lecture halls, faculty housing, gymnasia, scientific and agricultural facilities, industrial workshops, a hospital — and, most memorably, a handsome chapel that was used for conferences, graduation ceremonies, and religious services.
Taylor’s Colonial-style designs, including half a dozen buildings with grand porticos and large classical columns, were built of richly textured, multihued bricks made by the students themselves. In keeping with Washington’s belief that well-designed community buildings proved and nurtured racial progress, Taylor typically built in a style that was also consistent with his own personality: elegant, dignified and persuasive without being showy.
Taylor left Tuskegee in 1899 to work and study new building methods in Cleveland, but continued to design buildings for the school. When he returned in 1902, he was given the title he held for the rest of his career: Director of Mechanical Industries. He continued to design new buildings and oversaw the Department of Mechanical Industries, which included 22 divisions that trained harness makers, tinsmiths, wheelwrights, tailors, plumbers, steamfitters and many other skilled artisans.
His Inspirational Words
A 1915 letter captures the calm determination that surely inspired students under Taylor’s care. “There are not a great many colored architects and engineers in the country — comparatively few — but the number is increasing and I am glad to say that because of their work they have gradually gained the confidence of the public,” Taylor wrote. “I realize that in any movement which borders on that of the pioneer, that it takes some courage and some determination, but I believe that any risk which we may take in any operation, in any business or in any occupation, we will be fully repaid when we see that more and more avenues are being opened up for colored young men and colored young women, and the best lesson that we can give them is to let them see the things which have actually been accomplished by colored men and by colored women. I believe this would be among the greatest contributions that we can make towards racial progress.”
Unfaltering Leadership
Later in his career, Taylor played such a major role at Tuskegee that he served as acting principal when the principal was traveling. When members of the Ku Klux Klan paraded on a public road through the campus in 1923, Taylor kept the peace. He allowed a student dance to proceed as scheduled, assured the press that the institute could handle any trouble, and calmly watched from his veranda as the parade passed. He soon earned a promotion to vice principal for his strong, dignified display of leadership — but continued to serve as Director of Mechanical Industries. Later in his career, Taylor designed or co-designed buildings beyond the Tuskegee campus as well, including a combined classroom, chapel and administrative building at Selma University; a combination office, entertainment, and retail building in Birmingham, and elegant libraries in North Carolina and Texas. In 1929, presented with a particularly interesting opportunity, he traveled to Liberia to help establish the Booker T. Washington Agricultural and Industrial Institute. He helped organize the curriculum and advised on staffing, leadership, and facilities, serving as an intermediary between missionaries, businesses, and the Liberian government; he also designed plans for the campus and its first structures. The trip was covered by the African-American press, and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania awarded him an honorary doctorate for his work.
Public Service and Advocacy Following Retirement
After retiring in 1932, Taylor returned to Wilmington, NC, and spent the final decade of his life engaged in quiet but determined public service and advocacy. He promoted a federal homesteading project for African-American farmers and argued in favor of federally funded African-American recreation projects. He was elected vice chairman of the Wilmington Inter-Racial Commission, served on the board of Fayetteville State Teacher’s College, and wrote to the U.S. Civil Service Commission in 1941 to protest discrimination against African Americans in the defense industry.
Final Moments Surrounded by his Masterpiece
Taylor died Dec. 13, 1942, at the age of 74 after collapsing in a chapel during a visit to Tuskegee. According to family, moments before an aneurism struck Taylor, the famously modest man who rarely talked about his work acknowledged that the chapel was his masterpiece.
In her 2012 book about Taylor and Tuskegee, architectural historian Ellen Weiss writes that Taylor was eulogized for “his principled character, his organizational abilities, his special tact on interracial matters, and his achievements as an educator and architect.” Colleagues and friends recalled him as eloquent, intelligent, dignified and kind.
MIT’s Influence
In a talk he gave on the occasion of MIT’s 50th anniversary in 1911, Taylor summarized what his MIT training helped bring to Tuskegee. In the process, he encapsulated both his personal strengths and his lasting legacy: “the love of doing things correctly, of putting logical ways of thinking into the humblest task, of studying surrounding conditions, of soil, of climate, of materials and of using them to the best advantage in contributing to build up the immediate community in which the persons live, and in this way increasing the power and grandeur of the nation.”
The Robert Robinson Taylor stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp which is always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.
Updated February 5th: Here are the first-day cancels for this issue:
Digital Color Postmark size: 2.90″ x 1.45″ 
Pictorial postmark size is 2.96″ x 1.49″
Updated January 23rd: The first day ceremony will be held at the National Postal Museum, in connection with the opening of its new Black History exhibition. The change in first-day cities to Washington had nothing to do with the White House, but Taylor’s great-granddaughter, Valerie Jarrett, a senior White House advisor, is expected to attend.
Updated January 21st:
On February 12, 2015, in Washington, DC, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the Robert Robinson Taylor First-Class Mail® Forever® stamp, in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 472900).
The stamp will go on sale nationwide February 12, 2015.
The 38th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors architect and educator Robert Robinson Taylor (1868–1942). For more than three decades, Taylor supervised the design and construction of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, while also overseeing the school’s programs in industrial education and the building trades. He is believed to have been both the first black graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the country’s first academically trained black architect. The stamp features a photograph of Taylor taken circa 1890, when he was around 22 years old and a student at MIT. The photograph is from the collection of the MIT Museum. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.
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 http://www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
Robert Robinson Taylor Stamp
Special Events
PO Box 92282
Washington, DC 20090-2282
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. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by April 13, 2015.
There are eight philatelic products for this stamp issue:
- 472906, Press Sheet with Die cut, $58.80, (print quantity 250).
- 472908, Press Sheet without Die cut, $58.80, (print quantity 500).
- 472910 Digital Color Postmark Keepsake, $11.95.
- 472916 First-Day Cover, $0.93.
- 472921 Digital Color Postmark, $1.64.
- 472930 Ceremony Program, $6.95.
- 472931 Stamp Deck Card, $0.95.
- 472932 Stamp Deck Card with Digital Color Postmark, $1.99.
Technical Specifications:
Issue: Robert Robinson Taylor Stamp
Item Number: 472900 Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20 (1 design)
Series: Black Heritage
Issue Date & City: February 12, 2015, Washington, DC 20066
Designer: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Art Director: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Typographer: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint “USPS”
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Muller A76
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 30 million stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored, Type III, Block Tag applied
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Processed at: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.84 x 1.42 in./21.34 x 36.07 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.98 x 1.56 in./24.89 x 39.62 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 5.95 x 7.24 in./151.13 x 183.90 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 11.90 x 21.72 in./302.26 x 551.69 mm
Plate Size: 240 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “P” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings: Front: Plate numbers • Header: BLACK HERITAGE — 38th IN A SERIES
Back: © 2014 USPS • USPS logo • Plate position diagram • Barcode (472900) in upper right and lower left corners of pane • Promotional text • Verso text
Updated January 8th Postal Bulletin: The first day city and date are now listed as Washington, DC, on February 12th.
Updated December 23rd: We’re told the exact date and first-day city are still not confirmed, but now we have the stamp design, shown here, as well as more information from the USPS about the stamp and Taylor:
The 38th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors architect and educator Robert Robinson Taylor (1868–1942). For more than three decades, Taylor supervised the design and construction of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama while also overseeing the school’s programs in industrial education and the building trades. He is believed to have been both the first black graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the country’s first academically trained black architect. The stamp features a photograph of Taylor taken circa 1890, when he was around 22 years old and a student at MIT. The photograph is from the collection of the MIT Museum. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.
Remembered for his calm determination and quiet dignity, Robert Robinson Taylor (1868–1942) is believed to have been both the first black graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the country’s first academically trained black architect—accomplishments that helped open a new profession to African Americans.
In 1892, after graduating from MIT, this young man from Wilmington, North Carolina, accepted an offer from educator and activist Booker T. Washington to teach at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he soon set about shaping the appearance of the burgeoning school. Over the course of nearly 40 years, Taylor designed dozens of essential buildings, including libraries, dormitories, lecture halls, industrial workshops, and a handsome chapel, transforming a makeshift campus on an abandoned plantation into a confident, state-of-the-art institution.
Taylor’s work as a teacher and administrator was equally vital to the Tuskegee mission. While overseeing programs to train skilled artisans, he also established a curriculum with a certificate to help graduates enter collegiate architecture programs or earn entry-level positions at firms. His work furthered Booker T. Washington’s dream of fostering not just African-American builders and carpenters, but architects who could plan the buildings as well.
Taylor was admired for his decades of leadership at Tuskegee, and in 1911 he gave a speech that summarized the profound benefits of his education. In doing so, he encapsulated not only his personal strengths, but also his lasting legacy: “the love of doing things correctly, of putting logical ways of thinking into the humblest task . . . and in this way increasing the power and grandeur of the nation.”
Updated November 30th. This stamp will be issued sometime in February, and the first day city is Tuskegee, AL, because Taylor designed many of the buildings on the Tuskegee Institute campus.
Robert Robinson Taylor, 1868-1942, is believed to have been the first accredited African-American and definitely the first African-American student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (The photo here is from an MIT site.)
According to Wikipedia, his great-granddaughter, Valerie Jarrett, is a Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama.
It measures 2.95″x1.25″
On March 20, 2015, in Cleveland, OH, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue Water Lilies First-Class Mail® stamps (Forever® priced at 49 cents), in four designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) booklet of 20 stamps (Item 689900).
