To request a high-resolution image of the stamp for news media use only, email roy.a.betts@usps.gov

WELDON, N.C. — Kicking off activities for the 2012 Lyceum Series of Special Events at Halifax Community College (HCC) will be a United States Postal Service Stamp Dedication on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 11 a.m. in The Centre. The event is free and open to the public.

This year, stamps in honor of Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, artist Romare Bearden and entrepreneur and publisher John H. Johnson will be dedicated.

Barbara Jordan, one of America’s most respected and influential politicians, has been recognized by the U.S. Postal Service as the 34th honoree in the popular Black Heritage stamp series. Jordan received many prestigious honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honor, in 1994.

Born in Houston, Jordan was the first African-American woman elected to the Texas legislature. She also was the first African-American elected to the Texas State Senate since 1883 and the first African-American woman elected from the South to the U.S. Congress, where she served three terms, sponsoring and supporting numerous pieces of legislation extending federal protection of civil rights. Visit http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_104.htm for the full release.

The artwork of Romare Bearden, one of America’s most prolific artists, is featured on a set of four Forever stamps dedicated by the U.S. Postal Service. The sheet of stamps honors a man who became one of the 20th Century’s most distinguished, important and inventive American artists. Bearden is celebrated for his groundbreaking approach to collage along with his work in watercolors, oils, and other media.

Among Bearden’s early paintings were figural works recalling his childhood roots in the South, done in gouache on brown paper. His paintings of the 1940s also were inspired by literary sources such as the Bible, Federico Garcia Lorca’s poetry, and Homer’s Iliad. Bearden turned to writing lyrics for songs, including the hit “Seabreeze.” Music, in particular jazz and the blues, was a strong influence on Bearden’s art. Bearden’s monumental cityscape, The Block, was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art. His art has also been praised for depicting African-American experience in its full dimensions and is in the permanent collections of major museums across the nation. Considered one of America’s greatest collagists, Bearden was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1987 by then President Reagan. Visit http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_110.htm for the full release.

John H. Johnson was the trailblazing publisher of Ebony, Jet and other magazines as well as an entrepreneur. In 1982, he became the first black person to appear on Forbes magazine’s annual list of the 400 wealthiest people in America. His magazines portrayed black people positively at a time when such representation was rare, and he played an important role in the civil rights movement.

President Clinton awarded Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. The stamp, designed by art director Howard Paine, features a color photograph of John H. Johnson taken by Bachrach Studios. The photographer was David McCann. Visit http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_084.htm for the full release.

For more information on the 2012 HCC Lyceum Series of Special Events, visit http://www.halifaxcc.edu/lyceum/. To receive notifications of HCC events and events held at The Centre, visit http://halifaxcc.edu/getevents.htm. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com.

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Please note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/news.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.