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University of North Florida University of North Florida
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Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Stamp Collection Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Papers
1-31-2008
Black Heritage Stamp Series: Charles W. Chesnutt Black Heritage Stamp Series: Charles W. Chesnutt
United States Postal Service. Stamp Division
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/hurst_stamps
Part of the African American Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons
Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Black Heritage Stamp Series: Charles W. Chesnutt. 2008. Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Papers. University of North Florida. Thomas G. Carpenter Library. Special Collections and Archives. UNF Digital Commons. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/hurst_stamps/31
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Papers at UNF Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Stamp Collection by an authorized administrator of UNF Digital Commons. For more information, please contact Digital Projects. © 1-31-2008 All Rights Reserved
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AMERICAN COMMEMORATIVE CANCELLATIONS
Issue DateJanuary 31, 2008
First Day City Cleveland, OH
Artist Kazuhiko Sano Mill Valley.CA
Designer Howard E. Paine Delaplane, VA
Art Director Howard E. Paine
Typographer Howard E. Paire
Modeler Avery Dennison. Security Printing Division (AVR/SPO)
Manufacturing Process Gravure
Printer Avery Dennison (AVR)
Engraver WRE/ColorTech
Colors Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Black
Image Area (w x h)
0.85 x 1.42 in. 21.59 x 36.068 mm
Format Pane of 20 (1 design)
Plate Numbers "V" followed by four single digits
Marginal Markings © 2007 USPS, price, plate position diagram, header "BLACK HERITAGE 31st IN A SERIES," plate numbers, barcodes, biographical text, USPS logo
Charles W. Chesnutt
Pioneering writer Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932), who was of mixed
racial heritage, broke through the "color line" in American publishing
when his short story "The Goophered Grapevine" appeared in the August
1887 issue of Atlantic Monthly. A "goopher" is a magic spell. In an essay
published in 1901, Chesnutt wrote, "The derivation of the word 'goopher'
I do not know, nor whether any other writer than myself has recognized its
existence, though it is in frequent use in certain parts of the South."
"The Goophered Grapevine" tells a story within a story: The framing tale,
told by a white northern gentleman who moves to a farm in North Carolina,
encloses a longer narrative by "Uncle" Julius McAdoo, an ex-slave who
entertains his listeners-subtly instructing them at the same time-with
tales of voodoo.
"The Goophered Grapevine" and other stories, all using the same "story
within a story" device, were collected In The Conjure Woman, published
in 1899. A faint whiff of authorial ridicule clings to Chesnutt's gentleman
farmer, who is stolid, condescending, and perhaps a bit obtuse-but none
theless correct when, commenting on Julius's tales, he remarks, "Some
of these stories are quaintly humorous; others wildly extravagant ... while
others ... disclose many a tragic incident of the darker side of slavery."
Indeed, a striking aspect of the stories in The Conjure Woman is the way
they are poised between comedy and tragedy. Chesnutt was proud to
receive a positive review from the eminent writer and critic William Dean
Howells, who wrote: "The stories of The Conjure Woman have a wild, indig·
enous poetry .... Character, the most precious thing in fiction, is faithfully
portrayed."
Other books by Chesnutt include The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories
of the Color Line (1899) and the novels The House Behind the Cedars (1900),
The Marrow of Tradition (1901), and The Colonel's Dream (1905).
BlackHeritageCHARLES W. CHESNUTT
JANUARY31, 2008 CLEVELAND. OB 44101
FIRST DAY OF ISSUE
2008 United States Postal Service (08o2)
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AMERICAN COMMEMORATIVE PANELS
Charles W. Chesnutt CHARLES w. CHESNUTT was a pioneering
writer who came to maturity in the post-Civil
War period known as the Reconstruction era .
His work addressed a broad range of African
American experience; Chesnutt was of mixed
racial descent, which gave him insight into
a variety of viewpoints along America's racial
divide. He broke through the "color line" in
publishing when his short
story "The Goophered
Grapevine" appeared in the
August 1887 issue of
Atlantic Monthly.
Written partly in dialect,
"The Goophered Grapevine"
tells two stories: The first,
narrated by a white north
erner who becomes a
gentleman farmer in North
Carolina, frames a longer
narrative by "Uncle" Julius
McAdoo, an ex-slave who
entertains and subtly
instructs his listeners with
tales of voodoo. "The
Goophered Grapevine"
and other stories using the
identical framing device
were collected in The Conjure
Woman, published in 1899.
Later in 1899, Chesnutt published a second
collection, The Wife of His Youth and Other
Stories of the Color Line. His first published
novel, The House Behind the Cedars (1900),
detailed the efforts of an accomplished but
naive young woman to pass for white.
In The Marrow of Tradition (1901), a novel
inspired by a race riot t hat took place in
North Carolina in 1898, Chesnutt presents a
panoramic survey of race relations in a
fictional town.
In The Colonel's Dream (1905), the last of
his novels to be published during his lifetime,
Chesnutt attacked the failures of Reconstruc·
tion, which, he argued, threatened to consign
many black people to conditions as bad as
they had been during the years of slavery.
His other writings include essays, poems, a
biography of Frederick Douglass, and several
unpublished works.
Chesnutt was born on June 20, 1858, in
Cleveland, Ohio, where he spent most of his
life. He passed the Ohio bar examination in
1887 and became a wealthy man operating a
court stenographic service. He was politically
active and frequently spoke out against racial
discrimination. Chesnutt died at his home in
Cleveland on November 15, 1932.
In recent years, Chesnutt's work has
attracted growing interest. He is recognized
today as a major innovator and singular voice
among American writers.
backgroundCourtesy SpecialCollections and Archives FranklinLibrary Fisk University top right ond Intaglio autograph:Courtesy Fl the Arts and SpecialCollections Department Cleveland Public Library;
bottom rig ht: Courtesy Rare Books and Special Collections,Thomas Cooper library, The University ofSouth Carolina
Stamps printed by Avery Dennison (AVR) / No. 809 in a series/ January 31, 2008 / Printed in U.S.A. /© 2008 United States Postal Service
i.:!!J!!f UNITED ST./.lTES POST./.lL SERVICE
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©2007 USPS
V 111
V 11 1
BlACK HERIJAGE 31sl IN A SERIES
PLATE POSITION
V 111
V 1 11
.41 X 20
S8.20
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II I 1111111111111111 462800
Charles W. Chesnutt Charles W. Chesnutt Charles W. Chesnutt Charles W. Chesnutt Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) (1858- 1932) (1858-1932) (1858-1932) (1858-1932)
is recognized today as a ts recognized today as a ts recognized today as a is recognized today as a is recognized today as a major innovator among ma,or innovator among major innovator among major innovator among ma1or innovator among
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is recognized today as a is recognized today as a Is recognized today as a Is recognized today as a is recognized today as a major innovator among major innovatoramong major innovator among major innovator among major innovator among
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Q UNITED STATES 1111111111111111 Ill POSTAL SERVICE. 462800
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UNITED STATESPOSTAL SERVICE.
Charles w. Chesnutt COMMEMORATIVE STAMP
FIRST-DAY-OF-ISSUE CEIIEMONY CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 325 SUPERIOR AVENUE CLEVELAND, OH 44114 THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2008 11 A.M.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
A. Grace Lee Mims WCLV-FM Radio, Arts Reporter
and Host of 'The Black Arts"
HONOR GUARD
Cleveland Postal Honor Guard
CHORAL PRESENTATI0
Star Spangled Banner Lift Every Voice & Sing Cleveland Public Library Chorus
I NVOCATION
Rev. Dr. Robin Hedgeman Senior Pastor, Bethany Christian Church Cleveland, 0 H
WELCOME
Andrew Venable,Jr. Director, Cleveland Public Library
O FFICIAL DEDICATION
Delores Killette Vice President and Consumer
Advocate United States Postal Service
REMARKS
Nathan Oliver Founder, Charles Waddel Chemutt
Literary Society
Elizabeth Baker Keffer Publisher, Atlantic Monthly
VIDEO MESS AGE Richard H. Brodhead President, Duke University
THEATRICALTRIBUTE
Research by Dr. Regennia Williams Adaptation by Adrienne Gosselin Directed by James C. Workman Geoffrey Thurman as Charles W. Chesnutt James C. Workman as john McLaughlin Kimberlee Smith as Susie Chesnutt
CLOSINGA. Grace Lee Mims
SPECIAL GUESTS
Donald Marshall, III District Manager, Northern Ohio District
Spencer Hsu Postmaster Cleveland, OH
Stanley Miller .Executive Director NAACP, Cleveland Branch
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Charles W. Chesnutt TheU.S. Postal Service honors Charles W.
Chesnutt, a pioneering writer and social activist whose work addressed a broad range of African-American experience during the postCivil War period known as the "Reconstruction" era. Chesnutt is the 31st person inducted into the popular Black Heritage stamp series.
Art director Howard Paine wanted a stamp that emphasized Chesnutt's intelligence and dignity. The portrait painted by stamp artist Kazuhiko Sano was based on a 1908 photograph from the collection of Fisk University's Franklin Library.
Chesnutt made an important breakthrough when his short story "The Goophered Grapevine" was published in the August 1887 issue of Atlantic Monthy. He was proud to appear in such a prestigious publication, and was one of few African-American writers to have done so at that time.
In novels such as The Marrow of Tradition and short stories such as those collected in The Conjure Woman he probed the color line in American life.
Chesnutt was born June 20, 1858, in Cleveland, Ohio, to a father who went on to serve in the Union Army during
the Civil War. His father subsequently moved his wife and children to Fayetteville, North Carolina, which became the major setting for Chesnutt's fiction. Chesnutt received a fairly solid general education but taught himself shorthand, ancient
languages and other subjects. As a young man, he taught school briefly and then served as principal of a school for African Americans in Fayetteville.
Chesnutt later settled in his birthplace, Cleveland. After becoming established there, he sent for his wife, Susan, whom he had married in 1878, and his children, who had remained in Fayetteville. He got work in a law office and studied law, passing the Ohio bar examination in 1887; he became a wealthy man operating a court stenographic service.
In 1928, Chesnutt received the Spingarn Medal, awarded by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for "distinguished service" to the aspirations of African Americans. In giving him the award, the NAACP cited Chesnutt's "pioneer work as a literary artist depicting the life and struggles of Americans of
Negro descent."
Chesnutt died at his home in Cleveland on November 15, 1932. In recent years, his work has attracted growing interest. Today Chesnutt is recognized as a major innovator and singular voice among turn-of-the-century literary realists who probed the color line in American life.
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UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE.
first day of issue ceremony
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CharlesW. ChesnuttBlackHeritage Series
BlackHeritageCHARLES W.CHESNUTT
JANUARY 31, 2008 CLEVELAND, OH 44101
FIRST DAY OF ISSUE
Mrs. Muriel Cleaves114 Spring StreetYarmouth, Maine 04096
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Trademarks and copyrights used herein are properties of the United States Postal Service and are used under license to MBI, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
COVER DESIGN © POSTAL COMMEMORATIVE SOCIETY
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Charles W. Chesnutt Black Heritage Series
First Day of Issue: January 31, 2008 First Day City: Cleveland, Ohio,
at the Cleveland Public Library Stamp Illustrator: Kazuhiko Sano
Mill Valley, California
Charles WaddeU Chesnutt is remembered as one of the first African-American writers to explore racial themes in his work. The release of the 41¢ Charles W. Chesnutt stamp commemorates the 150th anniversary of the author' s birth. The 31st issue in the Black Heritage series, which began in 1978, the stamp features a painting of Chesnutt based on a 1908 photograph from the special collections of Fisk University ' s Franklin Library.
Charles W. Chesnutt was born on June 20, 1858 in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of two freed slaves from North
© Postal Commemorative Society
Carolina. His parents were both of mixed race, and Chesnutt's first novel, The House Behind the Cedars (1900), centers around two characters who "pass" for white, something Chesnutt himself never did. His collection The Conjure Woman (1899) features stories of slaves outwitting their masters. Chesnutt's powerful writing met with critical acclaim but did not sell well during his lifetime. His work has gained popularity in recent decades, thanks to contemporary critics who recognize the way Chesnutt combined skiJled writing with a thencontroversial political agenda.
Chesnutt was also a lawyer and an early political advocate for the rights of African Americans. He was aligned with activists W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington and wrote a biography of Frederick Douglass. Charles W. Chesnutt died in Cleveland on November 15, I 932.
