Lena Horne Black Heritage Single "Forever" Postage Stamp - MNH, OG - Sc# 5259
The 41st in the Black Heritage series, this stamp honors the achievements of legendary performer and civil rights activist Lena Horne (1917-2010). Horne began her career as a dancer at Harlem's Cotton Club and later became a featured vocalist with touring orchestras. The rampant racial discrimination she encountered from audiences, hotel and venue managers, and others was so disconcerting that she stopped touring, and in 1941, she made her move to Hollywood. A year later, she signed a contract with MGM-the first black actress to sign a long-term contract with a film studio since 1915-with the stipulation that she would never be asked to take stereotypical roles then available to black actors. Her most famous movie roles were in Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather, both released in 1943. Horne was a trailblazer in Hollywood for women of color and used her fame as an entertainer to become an important spokesperson for civil rights. The Lena Horne stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp. This Forever stamp will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce price.
Born: June 30, 1917, Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York, NY
Died: May 9, 2010, Manhattan, New York, NY
These are real USPS postage stamps that are accepted by the USA Postal Service as payment for mail posted in the USA however the total rates on the stamps posted must equal or exceed the current appropriate postal mailing rate or extra postage must be paid.
The stamp set shown in the picture is a stock photo and is likely not a picture of the exact stamp set you will receive and it may differ in plate number and/or orientation. However the item you will receive will be similar including having a plate number (if one is present in the photos) and the same number of stamps. Stamps titled as MNH, OG will have no significant creases or unnatural gum disturbances unless otherwise noted.