Toni Morrison stamp issued in Princeton, New Jersey

LORAIN — Two years ago, Kathleen Bartal sent a letter to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, requesting Lorain's most famous native daughter be featured on a commemorative stamp. Now, the stamp is set to hit post offices today, after being issued in Princeton, New Jersey. The stamp, designed by Ethel Kessler, features a photograph of Morrison taken in 2000 by Deborah Feingold. Morrison was the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Morrison, who was born Chloe Wolford, died Aug. 5, 2019, at 88. Morrison joined the faculty of Princeton University in 1989 as the Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities. She taught courses in the humanities and African American studies. Before she was a 1993 Nobel laureate, Morrison grew up in Lorain, where she graduated from Lorain High School and worked at the Lorain Public Library when it was on West 10th Street. Her first novel, "The Bluest Eye," is set in the International City, and she often spoke fondly of her hometown in interviews. For Bartal, of Lorain, it's a commemoration she can't believe is happening. When she wrote to the stamp advisory committee in 2021, she was told the person being commemorated had to be deceased for at least three years, so she put the letter out of her mind. Life went on, and it wasn't until The Chronicle-Telegram ran its weekly stamps column announcing the commemoration in mid-January that she learned her letter may have had an impact. "I'm proud of the committee, I'm proud that she's being recognized for all her work," Bartal said. Bartal, a stamp collector of sorts and a retired Clearview kindergarten teacher, said to her knowledge Morrison will be the first Lorainite to appear on a stamp. "it's like a dream come true that a lady in Lorain is getting a stamp," she said. She noted that others have bridges in the city named after them — including Charles Berry Bascule Bridge and the Lofton Henderson Memorial Bridge — but no one has a stamp. Two other nations have previously honored Morrison with a postage stamp: Sweden in 1993 when she won the Nobel Prize and Palau in 2000. Bartal said she's already ordered her first-day-of-issue postmark and books of stamps, and that unlike the other stamps she collects that make their way onto letters and cards, she plans to save them in a scrapbook for her granddaughters. To order commemorative stamps or other items, visit store.usps.com. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.