U.S. #869
1940 1¢ Horace Mann
Famous Americans Series – Educators
Issue Date: March 14, 1940
First City: Boston, Massachusetts
Quantity Issued: 52,471,160
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Rotary Press
Perforation: 10 ½ x 11
Color: Bright blue green
US #869 – from the Famous American Educators issue
Horace Mann was born on May 4, 1796, in Franklin, Massachusetts. Mann was a pioneering educational reformer who improved public education in his home state. Many of his ideas were quickly adopted by several other states.
Mann’s schooling was infrequent as a child. Between the ages of 10 and 20, he never had more than a couple months’ worth of schooling in any given year. However, he was a frequent visitor to the Franklin Public Library, one of the first public libraries in the country. He went to Brown University when he was 20, graduating as valedictorian after three years. Mann went on to work as a librarian and tutor of Latin and Greek before being admitted to the bar in 1823.
US #2159 – Mann was a pioneering public education reformer.
Elected to the Massachusetts state legislature in 1827, Mann supported education reform and public charities. He served on the committee that revised the state statutes and provided several changes that were ultimately adopted. Mann also opened an asylum in Worcester and served on its board of trustees. After moving to Boston, Mann was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate. He was the senate president for a year and pushed for the building of railroads and canals.
US #1606 – Mann instituted many of his reforms while on the Massachusetts Board of Education.
After Mann was made secretary of the new Massachusetts Board of Education in 1837, he resigned from all his other posts to focus his attention on this work. Mann worked tirelessly at educational reform. He held teachers’ conventions and presented his ideas at lectures around the state. In fact, he visited every school in the state so he could see what was and wasn’t working. Mann also developed the Massachusetts normal school system. This was a system that trained high school graduates to become teachers. He also introduced a series of annual reports that are considered one of the best “expositions… of the practical benefits of a common school education both to the individual and to the state.” Additionally, Mann discouraged the use of physical punishment in school discipline.
US #1093 – Mann promoted the feminization of teaching, encouraging women to become teachers.
Mann founded The Common School Journal in 1838, which explored public schools and their issues. He had six main principles regarding education: the public could no longer be ignorant of it, education should be paid for and nurtured by the public, that schools include children from a variety of backgrounds, education should be non-sectarian, it should be taught on the tenets of a free society, and it should be taught by well-trained teachers. In 1843, Mann personally paid for a research trip to Europe to study how other schools operated, especially in Prussia. He published his results in his journal, which was widely circulated in the US and England.
US #869 – Classic First Day Cover
Mann believed children from all classes should study together, so they could enjoy a common learning experience and the less fortunate could have a better chance at success. Mann also believed school could help provide discipline by encouraging prompt attendance and time management. While some opposed his reforms, they were widely accepted across Massachusetts and quickly spread to other states. Mann also pushed for women to become teachers.
Item #81898 – Commemorative Cover marking Mann’s 191st birthday
Mann went on to serve in the US Congress from 1848 to 1853. In 1852, he was selected to serve as president of the new Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. While there, he taught economics, philosophy, and theology. He remained there until his death on August 2, 1859. Several schools and school buildings around the country have been named after Mann.
Famous Americans
In 1938, the Post Office Department announced plans for a series of stamps recognizing 10 famous Americans and invited the public to submit recommendations. The response was so great that it was decided to increase the number from 10 to 35. This required an unexpected level of organization by the Post Office Department for this series.
Seven categories were decided upon – authors, poets, educators, scientists, composers, artists, and inventors. Each category of five has the same set of denominations – 1¢, 2¢, 3¢, 5¢, and 10¢. Each rate had a valid use. The 1¢ stamp paid for a letter that was dropped off at a post office to someone who had a box at the same office. The 2¢ was for local delivery. The 3¢ paid the normal non-local mail rate, and the 5¢ and 10¢ were used in combination for heavier letters and special rates. The denominations also shared a consistent coloring scheme: 1¢ is bright blue green; 2¢ is rose carmine; 3¢ is bright red violet; 5¢ is ultramarine; and 10¢ is dark brown.
Each category has its subjects arranged with the oldest birth date going on the 1¢ stamp, down to the most recent birth date on the 10¢ stamp. Each category has its own dedicated symbol in the engraving – a scroll, quill pen and inkwell for authors; a winged horse (Pegasus) for poets; the “Lamp of Knowledge” for educators; laurel leaves and the pipes of the Roman god Pan for composers; and inventors had a cogwheel with uplifted wings and a lightning flash to symbolize power, flight, and electricity.
The artists and the scientists have multiple symbols. Artists have either a paint palette and brush (for painters), and the sculptors have a stonecutting hammer and chisel. Scientists had the classical symbol of their particular profession.