New stamps to honor Reagan, Civil Rights -- and Kermit

Other notables include Garbo, Henry Fonda

November 05, 2004|Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- It isn't easy being green. It isn't easy getting on a US postage stamp either, but Kermit the Frog will manage it next year, along with his Muppet friends.

New stamps also will recall the late president Ronald Reagan, singer Marian Anderson, actors Henry Fonda and Greta Garbo, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" lyricist Yip Harburg, notable scientists, famous Marines, and sports cars, the US Postal Service said yesterday.

The stamp program will also commemorate the Civil Rights Movement. A 10-stamp set honors the courage of those who took part in that effort with stamps recalling President Truman's order integrating the military, the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march, sit-ins at white only lunch counters, and the first black students to attend Central High School in Little Rock.

In addition to that set, singer Marian Anderson will be honored in the Black Heritage stamp series and tennis star and humanitarian Arthur Ashe will be recalled.

One of the great classical singers of the 20th century, Anderson was also active in the struggle for racial equality. When the Daughters of the American Revolution declined to allow her to perform at their Constitution Hall in 1939, Anderson gave an outdoor performance to 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial.