The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #157374   Message #3720408
Posted By: GUEST
01-Jul-15 - 09:14 PM
Thread Name: Obit: Jean Ritchie (1922-2015)
Subject: RE: Obit: Jean Ritchie (1922-2015)
Jean Ritchie commemorative postage stamp:

Should there be a separate thread for this suggestion?

I've sent a letter to the U.S. Postal Service requesting that they consider issuing a commemorative stamp for Jean Ritchie. Here is the link to the site for submission information:

https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/csac/welcome.htm

I expect that the more suggestions they receive, the better the chance for a stamp to be approved. Here is the text of the letter:


Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3300
Washington, DC 20260-3501


28 June 2015

Subject: Jean Ritchie (1922-2015) - American folk singer, songwriter, folklore collector and researcher, recording artist, and Appalachian dulcimer performer and teacher.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hope you have already received many requests that Jean Ritchie, who died earlier this month, be commemorated with a U.S. postage stamp. It is important that her enormous contribution to American culture be remembered. I believe she amply fulfills all the requirements listed in the stamp subject selection criteria.

Here are links to a few of the relevant websites relating to her career:

New York Times obituary:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/arts/music/jean-ritchie-who-revived-appalachian-folk-songs-dies-at-92.html

Washington Post obituary:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/jean-ritchie-singer-who-helped-lead-folk-revival-of-50s-and-60s-dies-at-92/2015/06/02/9d2e3fc4-095e-11e5-95fd-d580f1c5d44e_story.html

Library of Congress tribute:
http://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2015/06/jean-ritchie-1922-2015/

Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Ritchie

Here is a link to a portrait of Jean Ritchie taken by her late husband, photographer George Pickow, which might be considered for a possible postage stamp design:
http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/sfc/id/306

Her surviving family members can probably be contacted through an institution she had a long association with: Berea College, 101 Chestnut St., Berea, KY 40403.

Sincerely,