Admirable Women

March is Women's History month in the USA so this week the theme at Sunday Stamps is 'famous women, women's rights, International Women's Day, etc.'

I searched through my postcards and letters and found the following stamps featuring famous women.

Maria Goeppert Mayer
A set of 4 stamps (the third to be released) honouring scientists in a variety of fields was issued on 16 June 2011.

Maria Goeppert Mayer was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who worked at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in the 1940's and '50s. She is one of only two women to have won the Nobel Prize for Physics - the other was Marie Curie in 1903.

Mary Lasker
From 2000 to 2008 the USPS released 12 stamps in the Distinguished Americans series, 6 of which were women. I have only two of these, Mary Lasker and Edna Ferber.

Lasker was an activist and philanthropist who raised funds for medical research and founded the Lasker Foundation which according to it's website is "dedicated to the support of biomedical research toward conquering disease, improving human health and extending life."

Edna Ferber
This definitive stamp is fourth in the Distinguished American series and honors Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber.

Ferber was a novelist, short story writer and playwright whose works included the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel 'So Big' (1924), 'Show Boat' (which was made into the celebrated 1927 musical), and 'Giant' (made into the 1956 Hollywood movie starring James Dean).

Carmen Miranda
This stamp is from a set of 5 titled Latin Music Legends that was released by USPS on the 16th of March 2011.

Carmen Miranda was a samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star who recorded her first album in Brazil before the age of 21. In 1939 she went to Hollywood and by 1946 she was Hollywood's highest-paid entertainer. She died of a heart attack in 1955, only 46 years of age. Her body was flown back to Rio where 60,000 people attended her mourning ceremony and the government declared a period of national mourning. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Alice Hamilton
Between 1980 and 1999 the USPS released 63 stamps in The Great Americans definitive series which includes writers, politicians, composers, physicians, educators etc.

Alice Hamilton was a medical doctor who earned her degree from the University of Michigan in 1893. Her work lead to improvements in factories and better lives and health for industrial workers. In 1919 she became the first woman appointed to the Harvard faculty.

Barbara Jordan
This is the 34th stamp in the Black Heritage series which started in 1978 with the release on 1st February of a stamp commemorating the amazing Harriet Tubman. Harriet was an abolitionist, humanitarian, suffragist, nurse, escaped slave, spy and the rescuer of more than 70 slaves along the Underground Railroad. Barbara Jordan was a lawyer and a politician which is not nearly so exciting but she did achieve a lot in her 60 years.

And that is the end of my collection of famous ladies on stamps. Check out Sunday Stamps to see more.