Postal Service will debut John Lewis stamp in 2023

Congressman John Lewis on the Edmund Pettus Bridge February 14, 2015. On March 7, 1965  Hosea Williams and John Lewis  led 600 civil rights activists across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in a march for voting rights.  Lewis had no idea  the level of violence that awaited the group on the other side of the bridge. In what would become known around the country as as Bloody Sunday, state troopers and sheriff deputies used tear gas and clubs to break up the march.  Leaving Lewis with a skull fracture and sending more than 50 others to the local hospital for treatment.   BRANT SANDERLIN / BSANDERLIN@AJC.COM

Credit: Brant Sanderlin/AJC

Credit: Brant Sanderlin/AJC

Congressman John Lewis on the Edmund Pettus Bridge February 14, 2015. On March 7, 1965 Hosea Williams and John Lewis led 600 civil rights activists across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in a march for voting rights. Lewis had no idea the level of violence that awaited the group on the other side of the bridge. In what would become known around the country as as Bloody Sunday, state troopers and sheriff deputies used tear gas and clubs to break up the march. Leaving Lewis with a skull fracture and sending more than 50 others to the local hospital for treatment. BRANT SANDERLIN / BSANDERLIN@AJC.COM

A stamp honoring Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2020, will be available for purchase next year, the U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday.

The preliminary design for the Lewis stamp uses a photograph of him from the Aug. 26, 2013 issue of Time magazine. The then-73-year-old lawmaker is wearing a dark suit and blue tie and staring straight into the camera.

The U.S. Postal Service said it will release a stamp honoring late Congressman John Lewis in 2023 featuring a photograph of Lewis taken for an August 2013 issue of Time magazine. (USPS)

Credit: Handout/U.S. Postal Service

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Credit: Handout/U.S. Postal Service

The margin paper, also known as selvage, will showcase a second photograph of Lewis taken in 1963 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, as he was conducting workshops on nonviolent protests.

The news release from the Postal Service said the stamp is designed to honor how Lewis lived and the legacy he left behind as a civil rights leader and notable political figure.

“Devoted to equality and justice for all Americans, Lewis spent more than 30 years in Congress steadfastly defending and building on key civil rights gains that he had helped achieve in the 1960s,” the release said. “Even in the face of hatred and violence, as well as some 45 arrests, Lewis remained resolute in his commitment to what he liked to call ‘good trouble.’”

Last year, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff wrote a letter to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee advocating for a stamp in Lewis’ honor. Ossoff interned for Lewis as a teenager and later was mentored by him as he began his own political career.

“His courage serves as an extraordinary example of civic leadership and continues to inspire young Americans to serve their communities and build a better world,” Ossoff wrote.

Other stamps scheduled for 2023 releases will honor Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, author Toni Morrison, American institutions like the Florida Everglades, and pastimes like skateboarding.