US #5377
2019 “Little Mo”

• Honors tennis champion Maureen Connolly Brinker (known as “Little Mo”)

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Value:  55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  April 23, 2019
First Day City:  Dallas, Texas
Quantity Issued:  20,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset, Microprint
Format:  Panes of 20
Tagging:  Phosphor, Block Tag

Why the stamp was issued:  To celebrate the accomplishments of famous tennis player Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly Brinker.

About the stamp design:  Pictures an oil-on-linen painting of Brinker by Gregory Manchess. It was based on a 1952 photograph.

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at the Southern Methodist University Tennis Complex in Dallas, Texas.

History the stamp represents:  For four years, Maureen Connolly (1934-1969) dominated women’s tennis. Over that brief period, she won nine Grand Slam singles titles over 50 consecutive matches. She was also named Female Athlete of the Year three years in a row.

Maureen Connolly started playing tennis when she was 10 years old. One reporter commented that her strength reminded him of the firepower of the USS Missouri (known as “Big Mo”). He called her “Little Mo,” a nickname that stayed with her for life.

At only 18 years old, Connolly made history when she became the first woman to complete the Grand Slam in one calendar year. In 1954, her career was cut short by an accident that badly injured her leg. Although she could no longer play, she became a correspondent for various newspapers at tournaments and even coached for the British Wightman Cup team.

Besides writing two books, Little Mo co-founded the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis foundation, which organizes junior tennis programs.

Little Mo was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1969 and in 2019 was memorialized on a US stamp. Nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova said it best: “Had her accident not cut short her remarkable career, we all would have been chasing her records.”