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Harriet Tubman Stamp Kit

 Collection
Identifier: MS 00320

  • Staff Only
  • No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

A rubber stamp engraved with the name and portrait of Harriet Tubman. Accompanying the stamp is a black felt ink pad and a small bottle (1/3 ounces or 100 cubic centimeters) of black rubber stamp ink. A metal wire is attached to the stamp's white handle, allowing the user to secure the stamp to a permanent station if desired.

This stamp was designed and distributed by Dano Wall, Deputy Director of Manufacturing for Adafruit, an open-source hardware company. Wall's inspiration for the stamp came from the 2017 announcement by United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that plans to include Harriet Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill were indefinitely suspended. On April 20, 2016, then-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had announced a redesign of the twenty-dollar bill, which included moving President Andrew Jackson's portrait to the bill's reverse and depicting Harriet Tubman on the obverse. Tubman would have been the first woman and the first African American depicted on a United States Note.

This stamp is sized to fit over top of Jackson's portrait on the twenty-dollar bill so that Tubman's portrait and name completely eclipse Jackson's. A semicircle cutout on the stamp's left side is meant to line up with the Federal Reserve System seal printed on every twenty-dollar bill.

A credit card-sized, red instruction card and a replica of the current twenty-dollar bill featuring Jackson's likeness accompany the stamp to encourage users to practice their stamping technique.

Also included in this collection are three stickers: two black-and-white stickers of Tubman's name and portrait as they appear on the stamp and one full-color sticker imagining a twenty-dollar bill with Tubman featured on the obverse. Phrases such as "War Hero," "Spy Master, "Keep Going," "Total Badass," and "#Tubman20" are printed on the Tubman twenty-dollar bill sticker.

Dates

  • Creation: 2019

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which William & Mary assumes no responsibility.

Conditions Governing Use

Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Director of the Special Collections Research Center and the holder of the copyright, if not William & Mary Libraries.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet

Language

English

Title
Guide to the Harriet Tubman Stamp Kit
Author
Jacob Hopkins
Date
2019-11-22
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Research Center Repository

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