Teachers of America Issue
On July 1, 1957, the Teachers of America stamp was issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Education Association (NEA). The stamp was issued in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the site where the NEA was founded 100 years earlier.
Prior to the 1850s, public schools were still a relatively new concept, as most were privately run. But by the mid-1850s, public schools were starting to rival private academies in number. Schoolteachers had formed associations in 15 of the 31 states, but there was no national body to coordinate their interests.