INDIANA — The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced a new addition to its 2026 collection, celebrating the life and legacy of Harriet Powers, a prolific 19th-century quiltmaker whose works are now regarded as masterpieces of American folk art.
The Harriet Powers Forever Stamp collection will officially launch on February 28, 2026, during a first-day-of-issue ceremony in Washington, D.C., held in coordination with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History’s Black History Month Celebration.
Harriet Powers was born into slavery in 1837 near Athens, Georgia. Her narrative quilts—specifically the “Bible Quilt” and the “Pictorial Quilt”—combined European-American quilting techniques with West African appliqué traditions to tell complex stories of faith, history, and celestial events.
The new stamp pane features four distinct scenes taken from Powers’ famous 1898 “Pictorial Quilt,” currently held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The original quilt is composed of 15 panels depicting everything from the story of Jonah and the Whale to local lore.
“I wanted the pane to look as if there were more than just four different scenes,” said Derry Noyes, the USPS Art Director behind the project. By rotating the starting order of the images in each row, Noyes created a visual “multitude” that reflects the dense storytelling of the original textile.
The stamps will be available for purchase at Post Office locations nationwide, as well as online and by phone, starting February 28.
Issued in panes of 20 stamps. As “Forever” stamps, they will always be valid for the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price, regardless of future rate increases. The stamps have four unique panels featuring vibrant color combinations and narrative details selected for their clarity at stamp size.
The Harriet Powers collection is part of a robust 2026 release schedule from the USPS. Other upcoming highlights include:
- Lunar New Year (Year of the Horse): Featuring a 3D paper-cut mask design.
- Lowriders: A five-stamp set celebrating classic customized car culture, set to debut March 13 in San Diego.
Powers’ quilts were once sold for as little as $5 to help her family during difficult financial times; today, they are considered priceless artifacts of the American experience. These stamps ensure her “story-telling” reaches every corner of the country she once navigated in bond.
