Lady Bird Johnson Forever Stamp Sheet
The achievements of Lady Bird Johnson were commemorated November 30, 2012, with the dedication of the Lady Bird Johnson souvenir Forever stamps sheet. The ceremony honoring the former First Lady took place at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center of The University of Texas at Austin.
The stamps are available at Post Offices in Texas and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. They can also be purchased at usps.com/stamps, or by calling 800-STAMP24. To learn more about Lady Bird Johnson, centennial-related events, and to download photos and view a video, visit ladybirdjohnson.org.
“Lady Bird Johnson changed the face of America — literally,” said U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors Chairman Thurgood Marshall, Jr. “She believed we had a responsibility to our environment to restore what had been damaged — and to remember what had been neglected. That’s why she led campaigns to clean up our cities and urged more Americans to visit national parks. One of her proudest achievements was the Highway Beautification Act. She was so vocal in her support for the legislation that it became known as ‘Lady Bird’s Bill.’”
Joining Marshall in dedicating the stamps were the First Lady’s daughters Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb; additional family members included granddaughters Lucinda Robb, Nicole Nugent Covert, Catherine Lewis Robb and Rebekah Nugent McIntosh.
The Lady Bird Johnson souvenir sheet features six stamps, a quote from the First Lady reflecting her belief that the environment is our common ground, and a black-and-white image of the First Lady taken from a family photograph shot in 1963 by Yoichi Okamoto. The single stamp on the right side of the sheet features the official portrait of Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Taylor Johnson, an oil painting by Elizabeth Shoumatoff showing the seated First Lady wearing a buttercup yellow empire-waist gown.
The five stamps on the left, adaptations of stamps originally issued in the 1960s commemorate the visible legacy left by her projects — and encourage others to follow.
(The image shows one of the stamps: “Plant for more Beautiful Parks” includes an image of a field of daffodils along the Potomac River with the Washington Monument in the background; courtesy of USPS)