Smithsonian African American Museum Honored With Its Very Own Forever Stamp
In honor of its first-year anniversary, the National Museum of African American History and Culture is getting its very own Forever Stamp.
The commemorative stamp features a picture of the northwest corner of the museum which was designed by architect David Adjaye. Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Government Relations Officer Ronald A. Stroman spoke with NBC News about the museum's importance and the honor of receiving its own stamp.
"The National Museum of African American History and Culture is an American treasure that serves as a repository for the history of suffering, struggle, and triumph of African Americans," Stroman said.
The stamp will be dedicated at the museum and available for purchase on Friday, October 13. Since its official opening on September 24, 2016, the museum has received 2.5 million visitors (approximately 6,850 visitors a day). The museum recently celebrated its first-year anniversary in late September which concluded with a panel that included some of the students from the historical Little Rock Nine group.
Titled "Reflections of the Little Rock Nine 1957–2017," the panel discussion included six of the nine students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 following the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision to ban school segregation.
"We are so grateful to America for making this first year unprecedentedly successful," Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director of the museum, said. "This first anniversary gives us at the Smithsonian the opportunity to thank everyone for this incredible gift and for making it possible to continue our mission to help America grapple with history by seeing their past through an African American lens – and ultimately help Americans find healing and reconciliation."