Lena Horne, perhaps best known for her singular sound as a three-time Grammy-winning singer, Broadway performer, and Hollywood star, will be forever remembered on the 41st Black Heritage Forever Stamp from the United States Postal Service.
In a ceremony at New York City’s Symphony Space, the USPS celebrated the life and legacy of Horne, “a woman who used her platform as a renowned entertainer to become a prolific voice for civil rights advancement and gender equality,” said Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman.
Horne’s daughter, Gail Lumet Bucklet, was present for the unveiling of the stamp.
Horne began her career at the famed Cotton Club in Harlem and later moved to the West Coast where she signed a long-term Hollywood contract with MGM. She starred in numerous movies, including Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather. Horne received a Special Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical for her 1981 solo show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.
Read More: LENA HORNE REVEALS HOW THE LADY AND HER MUSIC CAME TO BROADWAY IN THIS 1981 INTERVIEW
Horne made her Broadway debut in 1934 in Dance With Your Gods, and also appeared in Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1939, Jamaica, and Tony & Lena Sing alongside Tony Bennett. She earned a Kennedy Center Honor in 1984, and her name marks the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
As an activist, Horne entertained at camps for black military men during World War II and advocated for Japanese Americans against discriminatory housing after the war. She worked with Eleanor Roosevelt to pass anti-lynching legislation, performed at civil rights rallies throughout the 1960s, and walked in the 1963 March on Washington.
The Lena Horne Forever Stamp is available for purchase at usps.com/shop or by calling (800) STAMP24.