{"id":19835,"date":"2025-10-29T15:48:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T19:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/?p=19835"},"modified":"2026-09-26T16:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T20:17:10","slug":"harriet-powers-u-s-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/?p=19835","title":{"rendered":"Harriet Powers (U.S. 2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>From the USPS on October 29, 2025:<\/em><\/p>\n

Quiltmaker Harriet Powers (1837-1910), who learned to sew while enslaved on a plantation near Athens, GA, stitched works that are celebrated as masterpieces of American folk art and storytelling. Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps and pane using details from Powers\u2019s 1898 \u201cPictorial Quilt,\u201d with its biblical scenes and depictions of local lore.<\/p>\n

More details will be posted below the line, with the most recent information at the top.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Updated September 26th<\/sup>:<\/strong><\/span>
\nHere are the Scott catalogue numbers for this issue:
\n6058 Horse and Two Ducks at bottom
\n6059 Crescent Moon at upper left
\n6060 Rabbit at lower left
\n6061 Various Animals<\/p>\n

Technical Specifications:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Issue: Harriet Powers Stamps
\nItem Number: 488100
\nDenomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever\u00ae
\n\"\"<\/a>Format: Pane of 20 (4 designs)
\nSeries: N\/A
\nIssue Date & City: February 28, 2026, Washington, DC 20066
\nArt Director: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
\nDesigner: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
\nExisting Art: Harriet Powers
\nModeler: Joseph Sheeran
\nManufacturing Process: Offset
\nPrinter: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
\nPress Type: Muller A76
\nStamps per Pane: 20
\nPrint Quantity: 15,000,000 stamps
\nPaper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
\nAdhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
\nColors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
\nStamp Orientation: Vertical
\nImage Area (w x h): 1.0850 x 1.4200 in. \/ 27.5590 x 36.0680 mm.
\nOverall Size (w x h): 1.2250 x 1.5600 in. \/ 31.1150 x 39.6240 mm.
\nFull Pane Size (w x h): 9.3400 x 7.3500 in. \/ 237.2360 x 186.6900mm.
\nPress Sheets Size (w x h): 19.0550 x 22.3000 in. \/ 483.9970 x 566.4200 mm.
\nPlate Size: 120 stamps per revolution
\nPlate Number: \u201cP\u201d followed by four (4) single digits
\nMarginal Markings:
\nFront: Header: Harriet Powers \u20221837-1910 \u2022 QUILTMAKER \u2022 Details of \u201cPictorial Quilt\u201d by Harriet Powers \u2022 Plate number in bottom two corners of pane
\nBack: \u00a9 2025 USPS \u2022 USPS logo \u2022 Two barcodes (488100) \u2022 Plate position diagram (6) \u2022 Biographical text\u2022 Proprietary text \u2022 Promotional text<\/p>\n

Updated February 13th<\/sup>:<\/strong><\/span>
\nFinally!<\/p>\n

[ceremony details] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]<\/em><\/span>
\nHarriet Powers Stamps To Be Issued February 28<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>What:<\/strong> The U.S. Postal Service will commemorate quiltmaker Harriet Powers (1837\u20131910) with four new stamps. Powers was a formerly enslaved woman who stitched works that are celebrated as masterpieces of American folk art and storytelling. <\/span><\/p>\n

The ceremony for the stamps is free and open to the public. News of the stamp is being shared with the hashtag #HarrietPowersStamps.<\/p>\n

Who:<\/strong> Lisa Bobb-Semple, director of Stamp Services, USPS<\/span><\/p>\n

When:<\/strong> Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. EST <\/span><\/p>\n

Where:<\/strong>
\nAssociation for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)<\/a>
\nBlack History Month Celebration (ASALH Luncheon<\/a> requires separate ticket)<\/span><\/p>\n

JW Marriott, Washington DC
\nCapitol Ballroom (D&E)
\n1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
\nWashington, DC 20004<\/p>\n

RSVP:<\/span> <\/strong>Attendees are encouraged to register at: usps.com\/harrietpowersstamps<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Background:<\/strong> Born Oct. 29, 1837, on a plantation near Athens, GA, the future quilter is believed to have learned to sew as a child. At 18, she married Armstead Powers, an \"\"<\/a>enslaved farmhand. They would go on to have nine children. After emancipation, they bought four acres in nearby Sandy Creek, GA, where they raised cotton and vegetables.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along the way, Harriet Powers began creating quilts and completed at least five. Of the five, it is known that two are referred to as story quilts because each of their panels features a pieced, appliqu\u00e9d, and embroidered scene from a familiar story drawn from local lore or the Bible.<\/p>\n

In 1886, Powers entered her \u201cBible Quilt\u201d in a local fair, most likely the second annual Northeast Georgia Fair, in Athens. There, a young white art teacher named Jennie Smith fell in love with it and tried to purchase it. Powers initially turned her down but sold her the quilt a few years later.<\/p>\n

Smith displayed the piece in the Negro Building of the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, and several Atlanta University faculty wives were so impressed they decided to commission a new quilt from Powers as a gift for the vice president of the university board, Charles Cuthbert Hall. The \u201cPictorial Quilt,\u201d completed in 1898, remained in the Hall family for 62 years.<\/p>\n

Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, had worked on previous stamps featuring quilts but never thought of these works of fabric art as canvases for telling stories. \u201cThis is what is extraordinary about Harriet Powers\u2019s quilts,\u201d she said. Noyes chose details that would hold up well at stamp size and still communicate the stories Powers was trying to tell, and looked for variety and color combinations that worked well together.<\/p>\n

Each of the four stamps in the pane of 20 features a panel selected from Powers\u2019s \u201cPictorial Quilt.\u201d Noyes took a novel approach to arranging the panels. \u201cI wanted the pane to look as if there were more than just four different scenes,\u201d she said. \u201cBy changing the starting order at the beginning of each row I was able to create the impression of a multitude of scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powers\u2019s other existing work, the \u201cBible Quilt,\u201d now belongs to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The donor shipped it to the museum in 1968 through the U.S. Mail.<\/p>\n

The Harriet Powers stamps are being issued as Forever stamps and will always be equal to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.<\/p>\n

Updated January 30th<\/sup>:<\/strong><\/span>
\nCourtesy Clarence McKnight: \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Updated January 25th<\/sup>:<\/strong><\/span>
\nFrom the Postal Bulletin:<\/em>
\nOn February 28, 2026, in Washington, DC, the United States Postal Service\u00ae will issue the Harriet Powers stamps (Forever\u00ae priced at the First-Class Mail\u00ae rate), in four designs, in a \"\"<\/a>pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 488100). These stamps will go on sale nationwide February 28, 2026, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue. The Harriet Powers commemorative pane of 20 stamps must not be split and the stamps must not be sold individually.<\/p>\n

With this issuance, the U.S. Postal Service honors quiltmaker Harriet Powers (1837\u20131910), a formerly enslaved woman who stitched works that are celebrated as masterpieces of American folk art and storytelling. The stamps feature details from four of the 15 panels that make up the \u201cPictorial Quilt,\u201d which she completed in 1898. Each stamp features a pieced, appliqu\u00e9d, and embroidered scene from a familiar story drawn from local lore or the Bible. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps and stamp pane.<\/p>\n

Automatic distribution.<\/p>\n

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe first-day-of-issue postmark is a postmark notating the day a stamp is first authorized for use by the Postal Service. Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. All requests for first-day-of-issue postmarks (Traditional or Digital Color Postmark) must be sent to the following address with the choice of Traditional or Digital Color Postmark identified. All orders must be postmarked by June 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>FDOI \u2013 Harriet Powers Stamps
\nUSPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
\n8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
\nKansas City, MO 64144-9900<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Technical Specifications<\/strong> are not yet available.<\/span><\/p>\n

Updated January 22nd<\/sup>:<\/strong><\/span>
\nHere are the first-day postmarks for this issue: \"\"<\/a> The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.96″ x 1.26″ \"\"<\/a>The Pictorial Postmark measures 2.74″ x 1.07″ \"\"<\/a>The Special Postmark measures 2.88″ x 0.93″<\/p>\n

Updated December 12th<\/sup>:<\/strong><\/span>
\nThese stamps will be issued Saturday, February 28, in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the USPS on October 29, 2025: Quiltmaker Harriet Powers (1837-1910), who learned to sew while enslaved on a plantation near Athens, GA, stitched works that are celebrated as masterpieces of American folk art and storytelling. Derry Noyes, an art … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19835"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21076,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19835\/revisions\/21076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}