61c Richard Wright stamp

On April 9, 2009, in Chicago, Illinois, the US Postal Service issued the 61-cent Richard Wright commemorative stamp in a pressure-sensitive adhesive pane of twenty stamps. Carl T. Herrman of Carlsbad, California, designed the stamps.

With this twenty-fifth stamp in the Literary Arts series, the USPS honored author Richard Wright (1909- 1960). Best remembered for his controversial 1940 novel, Native Son, and 1945 autobiography, Black Boy, Wright drew on a wide range of literary traditions, including protest writing and detective fiction, to craft unflinching portrayals of racism in American society.

The stamp artwork by Kadir Nelson of San Diego, California, features a portrait of Richard Wright in front of snow-swept tenements on the South Side of Chicago, a scene that recalls the setting of Native Son. Nelson's portrait of Wright was based on a circa 1945 photograph.

Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU), Williamsville, New York, printed 100 million stamps in the offset process with microprint "USPS."

Reference: Postal Bulletin, March 12, 2009.

Scott Catalogue USA: 4386

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Museum ID: 2009.2029.165