(JNS) The US Postal Service (USPS) released postage stamps on Monday, Oct. 2, featuring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The “Forever” stamp, which covers the cost of mailing a first-class letter at a set price no matter if the price of individual stamps increases, features the judge in her trademark white lace collar and sells for $0.66 each, with a sheet of 20 costing $13.20.
It features an oil painting of Ginsburg by Michael J. Deas, derived from a photo by Philip Bermingham, and was designed by Ethel Kessler, an art director for USPS.
“This Forever stamp commemorates the legacy of late Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg and her groundbreaking contributions to justice, gender equality and the rule of law,” Jonathan Castillo, a USPS senior public-relations representative, told JNS. He described “one of the most important goals” of the postal service as celebrating “the people, places and events that are unique to the history of the United States and represent the very best of our great nation.”
Regarding whether another trailblazing Jewish woman—longtime California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died on Sept. 28—might warrant a stamp of her own, Castillo told JNS that the time between an idea for a stamp’s acceptance and its release is three years, while of 30,000 suggested topics for stamps submitted each year, “about 35 topics are selected.”
Last fall, the USPS issued a “Hanukkah Forever” stamp based on the work of another Jewish woman, Judaica artist Jeanette Kuven Oren.
