African Americans on Postage Stamps

Ma Rainey

Blues Singer

29-cent Ma Rainey stamp
The 'Ma' Rainey stamp was issued September 17, 1994.

Born Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett, “Ma” Rainey was called the “mother of the blues.” She specialized in a down-home style of classic blues, and her fame grew simultaneously with the spread of the blues genre.

The Black Experience

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