WHAT:
First Day of Issue stamp unveiling ceremony, Civil War Sesquicentennial Forever stamps, 1861 sheet

WHO:
Charleston Postmaster Tim Shaw, David Vella, Regional Director, National Park Service, Postal Governor, James C. Miller, III, Dr. Edmund L. Drago, Professor of History, College of Charleston and Postal Governor, Thurgood Marshall, Jr.

WHERE:
Ft. Sumter Visitors Center, Liberty Square, 340 Concord St. Charleston, SC 29402

WHEN:
Tuesday, April 12, 2011, 12:30 p.m.

AVAILABLE:
Event programs and participant autographs (free but limited), first day of sale, 1861 stamp sheets, first day of issue postmarks (free if applied to First-Class postage), commemorative “Ft. Sumter flag” cachet envelopes ($5), and philatelic memorabilia.

DETAILS:
The Postal Service begins a four-year series with these stamps commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, joining others across the country in paying tribute to the American experience during the tumultuous years from 1861 to 1865.

A souvenir sheet of two stamps will be issued each year through 2015. For 2011, one stamp depicts the beginning of the war in April 1861 at Fort Sumter, SC, while the other depicts the first major battle of the war three months later at Bull Run, near Manassas, VA.

The Fort Sumter stamp is a reproduction of a Currier & Ives lithograph, circa 1861, titled “Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor.” The Bull Run stamp is a reproduction of a 1964 painting by Sidney E. King titled “The Capture of Rickett’s Battery.” The painting depicts fierce fighting on Henry Hill over an important Union battery during the Battle of First Bull Run. For the stamp pane’s background image, a circa 1861 photograph depicts a Union regiment assembled near Falls Church, VA.

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