Ernest J. Gaines
Series: Black Heritage
First Day of Issue Date: January 23, 2023
First Day of Issue Location: Lafayette, LA
Image Assets
Stamp Brief
The 46th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors author Ernest J. Gaines (1933–2019). Best known for such novels as The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Lesson Before Dying, Gaines drew from his childhood as the son of sharecroppers on a Louisiana plantation to explore the untold stories of rural African Americans.
The stamp art is an oil painting of Gaines based on a 2001 photograph.
Ernest J. Gaines was born on River Lake Plantation in the town of Oscar just outside New Roads, Louisiana, where his family had lived in the former slave quarter for five generations. He moved to California in 1948, but for decades afterward, his fiction reflected a deep and unbreakable connection to the rural Louisiana of his youth.
After serving in the Army for two years and graduating from college, Gaines received a prestigious fellowship in 1958 to study creative writing at Stanford University. He published his first novel, Catherine Carmier, in 1964, but he achieved true fame, widespread acclaim, and a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1971 with The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, a novel chronicling the recollections of its 110-year-old African American protagonist, whose life spans slavery to the civil rights era.
In 1981, Gaines took a position teaching creative writing at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana) and soon became the university’s Writer-in-Residence. In 1983, he published the novel A Gathering of Old Men, in which a group of African American men assert their humanity and pride in the face of long-standing prejudice and violence.
In 1993, Gaines published his most critically and popularly acclaimed novel, A Lesson Before Dying, about a college-educated African American teacher who provides education and inspiration to a young farmhand awaiting execution for murder. Over the course of their difficult visits in prison, they form a bond that shows both of them the need to resist those who would deny them their dignity and self-respect. In addition to earning the National Book Critics Circle Award, A Lesson Before Dying resulted in Gaines receiving a prestigious MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellowship.
In 2013, Gaines accepted the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama, calling it the greatest honor he had ever received. Today the Baton Rouge Area Foundation continues to endow an annual Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, which recognizes excellent African American fiction writers who are just beginning to rise to national prominence.
Mike Ryan designed this stamp with art by Robert Peterson. Greg Breeding served as art director.
The Ernest J. Gaines stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp in panes of 20. This Forever stamp is always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
First Day of Issue Ceremony
First Day of Issue Date: January 23, 2023
First Day of Issue Location: Lafayette, LA
Stamp Art Director
Greg Breeding
Greg Breeding studied design and typography at Virginia Commonwealth University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in fine arts. He began his career by working as a designer for several nonprofits. In 1992 Breeding co-founded Journey Group, a design firm where he currently serves as the president.
In addition to his work at Journey, Breeding has taught design courses internationally for nonprofits. Breeding has received numerous industry awards from Print’s Regional Design Annual, Communication Arts, the Society of Publication Designers, and the Florida Magazine Association.
Breeding's first stamp as art director for the U.S. Postal Service was the 2012 issuance, The War of 1812: USS Constitution. “I'm interested in creating art for the public good,” Breeding says, “and honoring a person or event on a stamp highlights and celebrates what's positive in our culture.”
Breeding lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife, Lyndee.
Stamp Designer
Mike Ryan
Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Mike Ryan was creatively inspired by his father, a pressman. In 2002, he graduated from James Madison University with a B.A. in fine arts with a concentration in graphic design. After working as a designer at Think Design in Richmond from 2002 to 2003, he spent two years at Tradeshowdirect.com before moving to Journey Group in 2005. He served as Journey’s design director from 2007 to 2015, when he became the firm’s creative director. The U.S. Postal Service® Edgar Allen Poe Commemorative Edition booklet, which he designed was featured in the PRINT Regional Design Annual and the HOW International Design Annual. Ryan's stamp designs for the U.S. Postal Service include Have a Ball! (2017), State and County Fairs (2019), Backyard Games (2021), Ernest J. Gaines (2023), and School Bus (2023).
Stamp Artist
Robert Peterson
Specializing in figure painting with an emphasis on portraiture, Robert Peterson has earned praise for his empowering depictions of people of color. Born in 1981, Peterson studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design in New York for three semesters. A self-taught artist, he took up painting in 2012, the day his doctor told him he would need major surgery to replace a hip. After leaving the doctor’s office, he purchased a $6 paint set and a $7 double canvas and created his first work. He cites his surgery as giving him a new appreciation for love, life, and art. Peterson held his first solo exhibition in March 2013 in New York City. In the decade since, his paintings have been exhibited at major art fairs in Miami, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and his work has become much in demand with collectors, celebrities, and major corporations. In 2016, the Oklahoma Arts Council named him Artist of the Year for Southwest Oklahoma, making him the first black man to receive the distinction. In 2017, he was named Spectrum Spotlight Artist of the Year at Art Basel Miami Beach.
“My art is my truth and my voice,” Peterson explains. “It reflects a softer side of black people often not portrayed in the media and yet it still finds a way to show our strength and resilience, something that I want to see more of in galleries and museums.” Peterson lives in Lawton, Oklahoma, with his wife and three children. The 2023 Ernest J. Gaines stamp, the 46th stamp in the Black Heritage series, is his first project for the U.S. Postal Service.
Products
Sheet of 20 Stamps
The 46th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors author Ernest J. Gaines (1933–2019). Best known for such novels as The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Lesson Before Dying, Gaines drew from his childhood as the son of sharecroppers on a Louisiana plantation to explore the untold stories of rural African Americans.
First Day Cover
Celebrate the legacy of a beloved American author with this Ernest J. Gaines First Day Cover. The #6 ¾ envelope is affixed with a Forever® stamp cancelled with an official First Day of Issue postmark.
Digital Color Postmark
Celebrate the legacy of a beloved author with this Ernest J. Gaines Digital Color Postmark First Day Cover. The #6 ¾ envelope is affixed with a Forever® stamp cancelled with an official First Day of Issue postmark.
Press Sheet with Die-Cuts
Honor the legacy of American author Ernest J. Gaines (1933 - 2019) with this new 18(w) X 25.875(h)-inch press sheet, containing nine sheets of Ernest J. Gaines Forever® stamps positioned three across by three down.
Press Sheet without Die-Cuts
Honor the legacy of American author Ernest J. Gaines (1933 - 2019) with this new 18(w) X 25.875(h)-inch press sheet, containing nine sheets of Ernest J. Gaines Forever® stamps positioned three across by three down.*
*The stamps on these sheets do not contain perforations for mail use.
Stamp Portfolio
Celebrate the life of American author Ernest J. Gaines with this new keepsake stamp portfolio.
The portfolio explores Gaines’s life and the impact of his work and a behind-the-scenes look at the stamp design. Also included is a 5(w) x 7(h)-inch collectible cancellation card and a mint pane of 20 Ernest J. Gaines Forever® stamps.
Framed Stamp
Honor the legacy of American author Ernest J. Gaines with this new9.5(w) x 11.5(h)-inch framed piece, which features art from the stamp, plus a mounted Ernest J. Gaines Forever® stamp and the First Day of Issue details.
Stamp Ceremony Memento
Celebrate the 46th stamp in the Black Heritage Series with this Ernest J. Gaines Stamp Ceremony Memento.
This new collectible contains the First Day of Issue Ceremony Invitation, the First Day of Issue Ceremony Program, a Digital Color Postmark First Day Cover, and a pane of 20 Ernest J. Gaines Forever® stamps.
American Commemorative Panel®
Honor the legacy of American author Ernest J. Gaines with this new American Commemorative Panel®. The 8 ½(w) x 11 ¼(h)-inch panel, printed on sturdy card stock, features a narrative about Gaines’s literary career and is accompanied by a block of four Ernest J. Gaines Forever® stamps in a protective acetate mount.