Don’t ask Mike Glenn which of his Black history-themed stamps is his favorite.
He’ll try to name just one, quickly pointing out a stamp highlighting the life of Frederick Douglas, but then he’ll add that he also likes stamps highlighting Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. He then lists off a few more.
It eventually becomes clear that the stamps are like children to Glenn. He can’t single out only one as his favorite.
“I love them all,” he eventually says as he lets out a laugh. ”I guess that’s the best way to answer that.”
Glenn has been providing items for Gwinnett County government’s Black History Month exhibit at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center for a few years now. This year, it’s his stamp collection that is getting highlighted. They are on display at GJAC through the end of the month.
This is the first time since February 2020 — right before the COVID-19 pandemic began — that the county has had a Black History Month exhibit at GJAC.
Credit: Curt Yeomans
Credit: Curt Yeomans
“We’re always excited to have Mr. Glenn take part in our Black History Month programs and every year, he comes up with these great exhibits,” Gwinnett County Community Outreach Director Shaunieka Taylor said. “Of course, you know last year we had to go virtual, but he gave us a great history lesson on voting rights in our country.
“This year has been a great exhibit and it’s exciting and we’re looking forward to seeing Black history, which is American history, and having that being portrayed through stamps.”
The stamps cover a broad swath of African-American history. There are stamps commemorating Black soldiers who fought in the American Revolution, as well as stamps highlighting Harriet Tubman, the Emancipation Proclamation, the passage of the Voting Rights Act, the work of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman.
Alongside those stamps are ones that highlight the music of Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Scott Joplin and Ella Fitgerald among other musicians. There are also stamps highlighting several athletes, such as Wilt Chamberlain, Roberto Clemente, tennis great Althea Gibson and the pioneers of the old Negro League in baseball.
Credit: Curt Yeomans
Credit: Curt Yeomans
“The name of this exhibit is, I call it, ‘American History in Stamps,’” said Glenn, who played in the NBA and later became a basketball commentator. “All of these images have been validated by the government, through the U.S. Postal Service, so I felt the message is this is everybody’s history and it is American history, and it can be told through stamps.”
Glenn said one interesting aspect of putting the stamps on display is seeing the reactions of young people who grew up with email and are less familiar with buying stamps to send letters.
“One (person) brought a young lady who was 24 and she was not aware there were stamps with people’s images on them,” he said. “She had only seen stamps with flags on them. Then you think about it, and she’s young, and so much is done over the internet now so they hardly use stamps and the things she may have received (in the mail) may have just come from automatic stamping and they just only saw the flags.”
Glenn’s stamps are part of a multifaceted Black History Month display at GJAC this month. Hooper Renwick School alumni also have a display, as does the United Ebony Society of Gwinnett County and the Gwinnett Community Outreach Office.
Credit: Curt Yeomans
Credit: Curt Yeomans
The theme for Community Outreach’s portion of the display is “Black Health and Wellness” and it highlights homemade remedies the Black community has historically used when access to healthcare was not available, Taylor said.
In coordination with the healthcare theme, Commissioner Jasper Watkins is set to host a free vaccination clinic on Feb. 26 at Lenora Park.
“That’s a really great opportunity for our community to get vaccinated so we really want to highlight that and know that our county government is there with them and wants to fight this fight with them,” she said.
Gwinnett County plans to host a Black History Month celebration at 6 p.m. on Feb. 24 at GJAC, which is located at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville. Anyone who is interested in the event, but is not comfortable in attending it in person can watch it live on the county’s Facebook page.
Other events happening at county facilities, including libraries, during Black History Month include:
♦ Black Heritage Night from 6:30 until 9:30 p.m. on Friday at the Shorty Howell Park Activity Building in Duluth.
♦ Trace Your Roots: African American Genealogy at 11 a.m. on Feb. 19 at the Buford-Sugar Hill library branch located at 2100 Buford Highway in Buford.
♦ Guess Who: Black Heritage, with trivia, puzzle solving and clues, from 7 until 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 at Lucky Shoals Park Community Recreation Center in Norcross. The event costs $5 per person.
♦ Black History Bus Tour from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Feb. 26. The tour will begin at the Lawrenceville Female Seminary, and it costs $11 per person.
♦ Sundays in Suwanee: Historic Oakland Cemetery African American History at 3 p.m. on Feb. 27 at the Suwanee Branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library, located at 361 Main Street in Suwanee.
Credit: Gwinnett Daily Post
Credit: Gwinnett Daily Post
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