Westbury Library Hosts Unveiling of New Postage Stamp

By Jessica DeStefano

Unsung American civil rights hero Patricia Roberts Harris was honored Jan. 28 at the Westbury Memorial Public Library with the unveiling of her stamp. This joint venture between the Postal Service and The Links, Inc. Long Island Chapter was well attended by members of the community, and featured a musical tribute to Harris by student performers from Drexel Ave. and Powell's Lane elementary schools.

Patricia Roberts Harris, the first African-American woman to serve as a member of a presidential cabinet, is honored with the 23rd stamp in the US Postal Service's Black Heritage series. (L-r): Ernest J. Jones, Sr., housing inspector; Arlene Coleman, Westbury Library board member; Thomas Rosati, USPS district manager of the Long Island district; Shirley Davis, president, Links, Inc., Long Island; Gerard M. Glass, postmaster.

"The unveiling of the Patricia Roberts Harris Stamp was an historic event in the Village of Westbury, and a most fitting prelude to Black History Month," said Trustee Alphonse Campbell, who attended the celebration along with fellow trustee, John J. Meegan, Clerk Thomas Savino, and James Burton from the planning board.

Postal Service Governor LeGree S. Daniels officially dedicated the stamp Jan. 27 in a First Day of Issue ceremony held in Howard University's Crampton Auditorium in Washington D.C..

Harris is the 23rd American and seventh woman honored on a commemorative postage stamp in the Black Heritage series. A lawyer and politician, she joins other African-American activists, theorists, writers, educators and leaders in the series.

The daughter of a Pullman car waiter, Harris was born in 1924, in Mattoon, IL. She graduated summa cum laude from Howard University in 1945, and later graduated from George Washington University National Law Center, finishing first in her class in 1960.

Harris, a well-known public figure because of her numerous appointments and civil rights activities, has been called a "woman of firsts." President Lyndon B. Johnson named her US ambassador to Luxembourg, making her the first African-American woman to serve in an ambassadorial post. Her other achievements include: The first African-American to hold a US Cabinet position when President Carter named her secretary of Housing and Urban Development; the first to hold two Cabinet positions when she became secretary of Health, Education and Welfare; the first on major corporate boards of directors, including Chase Manhattan Bank; and the first to serve as dean of Howard University School of Law.

"We have a diverse community," said Westbury Postmaster Gerard Glass. "It was especially nice to see everyone coming together to honor an American hero."