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Parks made national headlines in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Ala. which was against state law at the time.
Joseph Lubrano, district manager of the USPS in Westchester County, said the stamps celebrate American culture and remind us to appreciate our heritage.
Rosa Parks focused the nation on the injustice that was going on, Lubrano said. By remaining seated, she made other people stand up for their rights.
Debra Jones, district manager of marketing for the USPS, said learning about history can help us learn about the world we live in. Jones said that in many ways, the commemorative stamp program connects the American people with stories that take us back in time.
These are great Americans who have helped us understand our milestones in history, to help us progress to the great county we have, Jones said.
Mattie Little, President of the Mount Vernon Branch of the NAACP, said Parks story has become so familiar that people rarely stop nowadays to ask what made her so courageous.
She was a political activist for ten years before the arrest, Little said. She understood the cost of her stand and did it anyway. It was not her last stand. It was only the beginning. It captured the feeling of a movement that inspired so many people to take action.
The stamp is part of a set of three. The USPS already released a stamp commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation. In August, the agency will release a stamp to recognize the 1963 March on Washington.
All three stamps are forever stamps, meaning that they can be used any time for first class mail, even when the cost of stamps increases.
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