On 30 January, 1981, the U.S. Postal Service added another collectible postage stamp to its Black Heritage commemorative stamps series with their dedication of the first class 15-cent Whitney Moore Young, Jr. stamp. Young, a civil rights leader, appears on the 4th stamp in the popular Black Heritage stamp series.
The Life of Whitney Moore Young, Jr.

As reported on the Harvard Square Library web site, Whitney Moore Young, Jr. was born on 31 July, 1921 in Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky. Young's parents were highly educated employees of the Lincoln Institute, a boarding school for African Americans. His father was the president of the Lincoln Institute and his mother was a teacher at the school.

After graduating as valedictorian from the Lincoln Institute, Young headed to Kentucky State Industrial College to study medicine. After only a year in college, Young decided to join the Army and wound up in an all-black regiment in Europe in 1944. Young often found himself playing mediator between his comrades-in-arms and the white captain in charge of the regiment. This experience honed Young's mediation skills which served him so well later in life.

In 1946, Young acquired a B.S. from Kentucky State Industrial College, then headed north to study social work at the University of Minnesota. It was in Minnesota that Young was first exposed to the Urban League, an organization that he would lead to prominence later in life. In 1950, Young became an executive secretary of the Omaha, Nebraska Urban League.

Young spent the next several years battling racism in various locations around America, often helping to end long-standing segregation policies. In 1961, Young was offered the presidency of the National Urban League. Under his leadership, the number of regional League offices increased from 63 to 98 and the budget grew enormously.

In 1963, the League was asked to endorse the March on Washington, but the League's board members felt the March was too radical for their purposes. Young finally convinced the board to endorse the March and the League moved to the forefront of the civil rights movement.

Whitney M. Young, Jr. died on 11 March, 1971, after suffering a heart attack while swimming. He died in Lagos, Nigeria.

USPS Whitney Moore Young, Jr. Black Heritage Stamp

As seen in USA Philatelic: Beyond the Perf, Issue 016, stamp artist Jerry Pinkney, who designed nine different Black Heritage stamps, created the artwork for the Whitney Moore Young, Jr. stamp. The Young stamp has been issued Scott #1875.
United States Stamps in the Black Heritage Series

As of 22 June, 2010, there are 33 stamps in the USPS Black Heritage series. With each new collectible postage stamp, the USPS generates recognition for often-overlooked contributors to American history and society. The current list of Black Heritage stamp subjects can be found below. For those interested in postage stamp collecting, the Scott catalog number is found beside each stamp.

    Harriet Tubman (Scott #1744)
    Martin Luther King, Jr. (Scott #1771)
    Benjamin Banneker (Scott #1804)
    Whitney Moore Young, Jr. (Scott #1875)
    Jackie Robinson (Scott #2016)
    Scott Joplin (Scott #2044)
    Carter G. Woodson (Scott #2073)
    Mary McLeod Bethune (Scott #2137)
    Sojourner Truth (Scott #2203)
    Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable (Scott #2249)
    James Weldon Johnson (Scott #2371)
    A. Philip Randolph (Scott #2402)
    Ida B. Wells (Scott #2442)
    Jan E. Matzeliger (Scott #2567)
    W.E.B. Du Bois (Scott #2617)
    Percy Lavon Julian (Scott #2746)
    Dr. Allison Davis (Scott #2816)
    Bessie Coleman (Scott #2956)
    Ernest E. Just (Scott #3058)
    Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. (Scott #3121)
    Madam C.J. Walker (Scott #3181)
    Malcolm X (Scott #3273)
    Patricia Roberts Harris (Scott #3371)
    Roy Wilkins (Scott #3501)
    Langston Hughes (Scott #3557)
    Thurgood Marshall (Scott #3746)
    Paul Robeson (Scott #3834)
    Marian Anderson (Scott #3896)
    Hattie McDaniel (Scott #3996)
    Ella Fitzgerald (Scott #4120)
    Charles W. Chesnutt (Scott #4222)
    Anna Julia Cooper (Scott #4408)
    Oscar Micheaux (Scott #4464)

According to the USPS, the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) has identified a wide range of nominees for the Black Heritage series. Nominees come from the entertainment, activist, entrepreneurial, and scientific fields, among others. With such a long backlist of nominees, the Black Heritage series, despite persistent annual rumors, should continue unabated for years to come.