Detroit, MI – The Detroit Postal Service, in partnership with the Detroit Postal Customer Council (DPCC) and The Detroit River Project (DRP), is honoring 10 courageous men and women who helped guide enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safehouses in use before the Civil War.
A Special Stamp Dedication Ceremony is being held on Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. for the Underground Railroad Forever Stamps, at St. Matthew’s and St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, 8850 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48202. The event is free and open to the public.

“We are honored to partner with The Detroit River Project, a team of historians, educators and scholars dedicated to sharing the history of the Detroit River region,” said District Manager Rick Moreton, USPS Michigan One District. “We recognize the pivotal role Detroit played in the Underground Railroad, and along with our business partners in the Detroit Postal Customer Council, are privileged to pay tribute to the brave men and women who left their mark on history.”

"The Detroit River Project (DRP) is honored to partner with the USPS in celebrating our heroes,” said Executive Director Kimberly Simmons, Detroit River Project. “The women and men of the ‘network to freedom’ as the Underground Railroad is known, worked tirelessly through fear of detection and arrest to give the dream of freedom to those who sought that what was denied.”

“Our own, William Lambert, known as the Detroit Underground Railroad Stationmaster is, in this UGRR Stamp Collection getting a long overdue recognition as who he truly was; an American Hero,” adds Simmons.

“As the Executive Director of the DRP, I celebrate on behalf of my own family, the Watkins of Windsor (Sandwich), as we owe our very life to Mr Lambert as it was he who rowed our family's matriarch, Caroline Quarlls (Watkins) across the Detroit River in October 1843 after her escape to freedom from St. Louis."  

From the time slavery was introduced to the Colonies until it was abolished in 1865, enslaved people made ceaseless efforts to escape its reach. The flight to freedom, whether by foot, horseback, carriage, wagon or  boat, was difficult and exceedingly dangerous.

In name only, The Underground Railroad started as a loosely organized secret network of courageous and imaginative freedom seekers, and the brave operatives who assisted them. Over time the network coalesced into a well-organized system as it responded to the increasing numbers of freedom seekers and a corresponding rise in attempts to thwart escapes.

The 10 men and women honored on these Forever stamps are: Catharine Coffin, Frederick Douglass, Thomas Garrett, Laura Haviland, Lewis Hayden, Harriet Jacobs, William Lambert, the Rev. Jermain Loguen, William Still, and Harriet Tubman.

“Our DPCC business community members are committed to educating the public about important people and events in the city of Detroit,” said Industry Co-Chair Jake Busacker, DPCC. “The Underground Railroad Stamp Dedication Ceremony is an opportunity to bring members of the Detroit community together to learn and share stories that will better our community.”

Created in 1961, local PCC organizations help foster a close working relationship between USPS and commercial mailers with the goal of sharing information about postal products, programs, and services through an educational and collaborative environment. Attendees will also have an opportunity to learn about the value of joining the Detroit Postal Customer Council.

News of the Forever stamps is being shared with the hashtag #UndergroundRailroadStamps.To learn more about  The Detroit River Project go to their website at https://detroitriverproject.com/.

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