To obtain a high-resolution image of the stamp for media use only, email mark.r.saunders@usps.gov.
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Postal Service, San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee and the Harvey Milk Foundation held a special dedication ceremony at City Hall today to honor the release of the Harvey Milk stamp. The First-Day-Issue dedication ceremony for the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp took place at the White House on May 22.
“Mr. Milk joined other civil rights pioneers — including Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez — who’ve been honored with stamps,” said Rosemarie Fernandez, Vice President of Employee Resource Management for the Postal Service. “His stamp should serve as a small but powerful reminder of the lessons Mr. Milk taught us — beginning with the idea that when you’re not afraid to be yourself, you give others the courage to take pride in who they are.”
Joining Fernandez in dedicating the stamp were Mayor Lee, Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk and Co-Founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation, Anne Kronenberg, Harvey Milk campaign manager and co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation, Kamala Harris, attorney general, state of California and the Honorable David Campos and Honorable Scott Wiener, Board of Supervisors, San Francisco.
“San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk kept the door of opportunity open for our City and our nation, fighting for equality for all and making sure that we never lose hope and faith in one another,” said Lee. “I thank the United States Postal Service for celebrating Harvey Milk with this new forever stamp. Today and every day we will honor Supervisor Harvey Milk’s legacies by our own commitment to make San Francisco a place where we can all live equally.”
“The dreams uncle Harvey shared with me — for a world based not simply on tolerance, but on inclusion, not simply on an allowance for differences, but on the celebration of humanity’s diversity, are dreams for which he made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Milk. “These dreams have a wonderful new emblem with the U.S. Postal Service’s issuance of the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp. The stamp represents a remembrance of the price paid by those that have gone before us in the struggle for equality and is also a graceful reminder that we each have a role to play in nourishing hope for those still struggling for acceptance, and that equality requires our vigilance, not only here, but across this globe that we all share.”
Available in sheets of 20 stamps, the stamp image is based on a circa 1977 black and white photograph of Milk in front of his Castro street camera store in San Francisco taken by Daniel Nicoletta of Grants Pass, OR. Antonio Alcalá of Alexandria, VA, was art director for the stamp.
Harvey Milk (1930-1978) was a visionary leader who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk’s achievements gave hope and confidence to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in the United States and elsewhere at a time when the community was encountering widespread hostility and discrimination. Milk believed that government should represent all citizens, ensuring equality and providing needed services.
His political career was tragically cut short less than a year after he took office in California when he and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated on Nov. 27, 1978.
In 2009, Milk was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
Customers may view many of this year’s other stamps on Facebook facebook.com/USPSStamps, Twitter@USPSstamps, Pinterest pinterest.com/uspsstamps, Instagraminstagram.com/uspostalservice or on uspsstamps.com, the Postal Service’s online site for information on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.
Ordering First-Day-of-Issue Postmarks
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at local Post Offices, at usps.com/stampsor by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes to themselves or others and place them in larger envelopes addressed to:
Harvey Milk
Special Events
PO Box 92282
Washington, DC 20090-2282
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, there is a 5-cent charge per postmark. All orders must be postmarked by July 21, 2014.
Ordering First-Day Covers
The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog online at usps.com/shop or by calling 800-STAMP-24 (800-782-6724). Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to:
U.S. Postal Service
Catalog Request
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014
Philatelic Products
Eight philatelic products are available. 
- 472024, Framed Art, $39.95
- 472006, Press Sheet with die-cuts, $117.60 (print quantity 1,000).
- 472008, Press Sheet without die-cuts, $117.60 (print quantity 1,000).
- 472010, Keepsake with Digital Color Postmark, $11.95.
- 472016, First-Day Cover, $0.93.
- 472021, Digital Color Postmark, $1.64.
- 472030, Ceremony Program,$6.95.
- 472031, Stamp Deck Card, $0.95.
- 472032, Stamp Deck Card w/Digital Color Postmark. $1.99.
The HARVEY MILK® image is licensed by the Harvey Milk Foundation.
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