WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders unveiled a new stamp Wednesday in a Capitol ceremony commemorating former Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon who served more than three decades in Congress and died in 2020.
The stamp features a photograph of Lewis taken by Marco Grob on assignment for the August 26, 2013, issue of Time magazine.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said commemorative stamps tells stories, honor heroes and capture important moments in history.
“By adding John Lewis to this collection, we are honoring an extraordinary contribution to the American story and inspiring future generations to follow his lead,” McCarthy said.
Louis DeJoy, the postmaster general of the United States, said the main post office facility in Atlanta would be named after Lewis in an August ceremony. He said the Lewis forever stamp — which can be used to mail a one-ounce letter regardless of when the stamps are purchased or used — will be issued in July.
Lewis was best known for leading some 600 protesters in the Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. He also joined the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and four other civil rights leaders in organizing the 1963 March on Washington. He spoke to the vast crowd just before King delivered his epochal “I Have a Dream” speech.