Postal Bulletin 22144 - December 23, 2004 - USPS.com

POSTAL BULLETIN 22144 (12-23-04)
15
Community Relations Publicity Kit
Black History Month/Marian Anderson
Publicity Ideas to Interest the Media
February Is Black History Month
There are many ways to interest local media in your
Black History Month or local dedication of the Marian
Anderson stamp events. Following are some suggestions
to capture media attention.
Note: You can plan Black History Month events in conjunction
with Marian Anderson local dedication stamp ceremonies.
You should emphasize the fact that this is the 28th
anniversary of the Black Heritage stamp series featuring
Marian Anderson.
Have a month-long Black History Month celebration
involving employees and their families, school children
and congressional, civic, and community leaders.
Involve those people in helping to create a traveling
or permanent African-American stamp collection
exhibit that could either be placed in Post Office
lobbies or taken to stamp events at libraries, schools,
or museums throughout the month of February. Highlight
a different honoree theme every week of the
month. Some examples of different themes might include
sports figures, entertainers, inventors,
educators, leaders, and scientists.
— Photo opportunity: Encourage media to cover the
opening day of your exhibit. Media can take pictures
of employees and community members setting
up the exhibit to accompany an article about
Black History Month.
— Opening day of the exhibit: Feature unveilings of
the Marian Anderson commemorative stamp and
possibly other stamps in the Black Heritage
series. Ask congressional, civic, and community
leaders to participate in ceremonies.
Invite children to design stamps about African-
American history, and display their designs in the
Post Office. Have local customers select the winners.
Winners can be awarded Black Heritage or other
commemorative stamp materials.
Give presentations and workshops to local elementary
schools, libraries, reading clubs, and community
organizations like the Girl Scouts/Boy Scouts and the
Rotary Club.
Look for opportunities to partner with local philatelic
organizations that may be sponsoring local exhibits
or other events. Contact the American Classical Music
Hall of Fame and Museum, International Music
Association, Marian Anderson Theater, NAACP,
Black Congressional Caucus, and University of
Pennsylvania Library, where all of Anderson personal
papers — including letters, music scores, programs,
photographs, and sound recordings — are housed.
Offer to speak, conduct workshops, or organize volunteers
from among your staff to help.
Help after-school programs set up stamp collecting
clubs and share African-American history. Ask a local
stamp collector to set up a display of stamp collecting
tools and philatelic materials, such as tongs, magnifier,
perforation gauge, albums, first-day covers, and
so on. Go online to the American Philatelic Society’s
Web site at www.stamps.org to find local chapters
(including African-American stamp clubs) and affiliates
that might be willing to help.
Postal Service employees can find an electronic version
of this kit at http://blue.usps.gov. Click References, then
scroll down and click Postmaster Toolkits. Downloading the
Microsoft Word version makes it easy to complete the fill-inthe-blank
materials.
Implement any of these ideas, combine them, or brainstorm
with your employees and come up with ideas of your
own. Using the publicity materials in this kit be sure to publicize
each and every event to your local newspaper, radio,
and television stations via press releases, media advisories,
and letters to the media. Don’t forget to make follow-up
telephone calls.
Products and Licensing
First Day Cover (single) Item #458061 $ 0.75
Cultural Diary Page/Illustrated Envelope
Set Item #458076 $12.95
Cultural Keepsake (cover/pane)
Item #458093 $ 8.15
Cultural Diary (with pages and stamps)
Item # 458096 $34.95
The Postal Service is introducing a new philatelic product,
Expressions of African Americans: A Cultural Diary,
scheduled for release in late January.
This unique collectible consists of a beautifully illustrated
binder designed to hold current and future insert
cards of African-American stamp issues as well as personal
notes. The initial product offering will include the binder,
insert cards, stamps, and mounts for four African-American
issues from 2004 (Paul Robeson, Wilma Rudolph, James