SYD KRONISH | Stamps Marshall to be honored

Another first in U.S. stamp history.
The first U.S. stamp for 2003 will honor Thurgood Marshall, the first black person to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
The 37-cent stamp commemorative issue will feature a photo of Marshall taken in 1967 when he was named to the nation's highest judicial post.
The new stamp is the 26th in the Black Heritage series, which has hailed outstanding black personages from various fields of endeavor.
Some of the previous honorees in the series include: Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Scott Joplin, Ida B. Wells, Benjamin 0. Davis Sr., Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, and Langston Hughes who was honored in Jan. 2002.
Background
Born in Baltimore July 2, 1908, Marshall graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1930. Later that year, he entered Howard University Law School and graduated first in his class in 1933.
In 1934, Marshall began to serve as pro bono counsel for the Baltimore branch of the NAACP. In 1938, he was promoted to chief counsel and became responsible for running the NAACP's legal office.
Marshall's most famous civil rights accomplishment came in 1954 when he prevailed in the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., that struck down segregation in public schools.
Marshall died Jan. 24, 1993, at age 85. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the nation's highest civilian honor -- Nov. 30, 1993.
The Marshall stamp will be released Jan. 7 in Washington. First-day-of-issue covers are available by calling toll free (800)-STAMP-24. In addition, a selection of stamps and other philatelic items are available at the Postal Store at www.usps.com.
Collectors
Canada collectors will be interested in "Collection Canada 2002," which showcases all 64 commemorative and definitive stamps issued by Canada Post in 2002.
The stamps, background information and colorful art are presented in this 100-page hardcover book, which is available for $49.95. The face value of the stamps included in the book is more than $41.
You can order the colorful book or obtain general information on Canada's stamps by calling (800) 863-6550.
As previously mentioned in this column, the "2002 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook" and the 2003 "Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps" are available as gifts or for your own reference. The yearbook (hardcover) is $49.95, and the guide (softcover) costs $18.95. Call (800) STAMP-24.