Marian Anderson stamp

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Marian Anderson honored with a stamp and jazz standards

The American singer gets her due in the Black Heritage series

THOMAS PATTERSON | STATESMAN JOURNAL

Mike Koenig of the Grand Vines house band packs his bass after a performance Thursday at Salem's main post office. A stamp honoring singer Marian Anderson was unveiled as part of the U.S. Postal Service's Black History Month celebration. The Grand Vines band performed jazz standards written by African-American artists.

DAN DE CARBONEL

Statesman Journal

February 18, 2005

Postal customers took a little longer than usual to pick up their mail and send packages Thursday at the Salem Main Post Office.

It wasn't because of long lines. Rather, it was an opportunity to help honor a trailblazing American singer and civil-rights pioneer.

Postal officials unveiled the new Marian Anderson commemorative stamp, the latest in the U.S. Postal Service's Black Heritage series.

Marian Anderson, a classical singer whose career helped spur the civil-rights movement, took her place among previous honorees Harriet Tubman, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Jackie Robinson.

Jazz standards including "Ain't Misbehavin' " and "God Bless the Child" entertained postal customers not accustomed to live music at the post office.

Ellen Hinrichs of Turner had friend Roz Jackson of Salem drive her to the post office just to witness the event.

"I love to do things that are unusual," said Hinrichs, a Big Apple transplant.

"It's just really neat and reminds me of New York."

Turner Postmaster Prince Richardson, a trailblazer himself being just the second African-American postmaster in Oregon, said Anderson never let obstacles get in her way.

She also served as an example of never giving up, Richardson said, a theme touched on by speaker Dave Bowen, a former outstanding track athlete at the University of Oregon who also attended Willamette University.

"She exemplified an attitude of "I can, I will, I won't quit," Richardson said. "She showed that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it."

Tamara Burleson, a local music educator at Kids & Music, wanted her 3-year-old daughter, Elisabeth, to hear some live jazz.

"It's a great chance to expose her to music," she said.

Salem Postmaster Sara Lovendahl said she expects more stamp-unveiling events in the future.

"This helps educate the public about those we honor on our stamps," she said. "And we want to show the public we're part of the community."

[Jazzmoose]

Cool...finally; I'm out of the Paul Robeson and the Henry Mancini!