Unveiling of U.S. Postal Service Black Heritage Commemorative Stamp set for Feb. 26 at Marshall;
Ella Fitzgerald latest honoree

 

The 2007 edition of the United States Postal Service Black Heritage Commemorative U.S. Postage Stamp will be unveiled in a ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 at Marshall University.

 

The ceremony, in which the Ella Fitzgerald 2007 Black Heritage Commemorative U.S. Postage Stamp will be unveiled, takes place in the Alumni Lounge on the second floor of the Memorial Student Center on Marshall’s Huntington campus. The event is open to the public.

 

Fitzgerald, who was widely known as “The First Lady of Song,” is the 30^th subject in the Postal Service’s Black Heritage stamp series. Her stamp portrait is based on a photograph taken around 1956.

 

“Marshall University welcomes the opportunity to partner with the Huntington U. S. Postal Service in observing the 2007 unveiling of the Ella Fitzgerald stamp,” Dr. Betty Jane Cleckley, vice president for multicultural affairs at Marshall, said. “She was one of America’s remarkably talented human beings whose impact on society will persist long after this occasion.”

 

Ella Jane Fitzgerald (1917-1996) had extraordinary vocal range and flexibility which, combined with her gift for pitch, rhythmic sense and flawless diction, made her a favorite of fans, songwriters and other singers.

 

Her success as an amateur brought Fitzgerald to the attention of bandleader and drummer Chick Webb, who hired her to sing with his orchestra. In 1938, she and Webb had a number one hit record with “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” a novelty song Fitzgerald wrote with Van Alexander.

 

In 1956, Fitzgerald began recording the Cole Porter Songbook, a best-selling album that launched a timeless series of “Songbook” recordings of the works of great American songwriters. She recorded more than 200 standards for the “Songbook” albums.

 

Fitzgerald broke many racial barriers. She was the first black artist to appear in various exclusive clubs around the United States, including the famed Copacabana in New York in 1957. She sang at the inaugural gala for President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

 

Fitzgerald won 13 Grammy Awards and many other honors, including the National Medal of Arts in 1987. She was one of five artists awarded Kennedy Center Honors in 1979. In 1989, the Society of Singers created an award for lifetime achievement, called it the “Ella,” and made her its first recipient.

 

Dr. Charlotte Giles, professor and chair of the department of music at West Virginia State University, will be the keynote speaker at the unveiling ceremony. Special music will be performed by school choirs from Kellogg Elementary and Spring Hill Elementary.

 

Handouts and door prizes will be provided, and a reception will follow the program.