At an Association for the Study of African American Life and History event, DPMG Ron Stroman unveils the stamp with association leaders Sylvia Cyrus and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham and National Parks Service Director Jonathan Jarvis.
Allen, a prominent religious and civic leader in the 18th and 19th centuries, founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Eastern Area VP Josh Colin dedicated the stamp in Philadelphia, where he praised Allen as “a man of boundless stature, courage and determination.”
DPMG Ron Stroman spoke at a series of special dedications, including a ceremony organized by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in Washington, DC.
Stroman described Allen as “a man whose spiritual journey to Christianity and whose secular journey to freedom has no parallel in American history. A man of such unshakable sense of mission that even in his early 20s, he could see a barren piece of land in Philadelphia and say to those who would hear, ‘On this rock, I shall build my church.’”
Other major events were held in Los Angeles, Baltimore and Chicago, where USPS also recognizedFort Dearborn, IL, Customer Services Supervisor Cassandra Sudduth, who initiated a petition drive to honor Allen with a stamp.
“I’m fortunate and blessed to be a part of history,” Sudduth said.
Fort Dearborn, IL, Customer Services Supervisor Cassandra Sudduth, an AME church member, led a petition drive to honor Richard Allen with a stamp.
Lorna Coakley, a Business Mail Entry Unit supervisor in Greater South Carolina District, presents a tribute in Gullah dialect at a stamp dedication in Mt. Pleasant, SC.
Customers purchase Richard Allen stamps at an event in Columbus, OH.
Postmaster Tom Sullivan, left, gathers with AME church members at a dedication in New Haven, CT.
KABC-TV news anchor Leslie Sykes, Los Angeles District Manager Al Santos and Postmaster Ken Snavely gather at a dedication in Los Angeles.
Bishop Julius McAllister Sr., Rev. Lloyd Washington, Rev. Moses Simms, Rev. Otto Duncan, Rev. Gwendolyn Snearl, Postmaster Sarah Augustine and Louisiana Marketing Manager Pamela Wilson gather at a dedication in Baton Rouge, LA.
Phoenix, AZ, Plant Manager Clyde Jones and Rev. Benjamin N. Thomas Sr. dedicate the stamp at 130-year-old Tanner Chapel AME Church, the oldest African-American church in Arizona.
