William Cooper Nell, 1816-1874

On December 19, 1864, the U. S. Congress passed Charles Sumner's Bill S.237 integrating the U. S. Postal Service and WILLIAM COOPER NELL (1816-1874) became the first African American appointed federal employment in the position of Postal Clerk.

Nell, acknowledged by Carter G. Woodson as the first Black historian to compile information on Black Americans, wrote his first publication Services of Colored Americans, in the Wars of 1776 and 1812, 1851; 2nd edition, 1852 (introduction by Wendell Phillips); Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, With Sketches of Several Distinguished Colored Persons: To Which Is Added a Brief Survey of the Condition and Prospects of Colored Americans, 1855 (introduction by Harriet Beecher Stowe); Triumph of Equal School Rights. Proceedings of the Presentation Meeting held in Boston December 17, 1855; Including addresses by John T. Hilton, Wm. C. Nell, Charles W. Slack, Wendell Phillips, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Charles Lenox Remond, 1856; which honored him for his efforts in desegregating Boston's public schools in 1855; he honored Crispus Attucks printing the program of the Boston Massacre, March 5th 1770; That Day Which History Selects as the Dawn of the American Revolution; Commemorative Festival at Faneuil Hall, Friday March 5, 1858; Protest Against the Dred Scott Decision. 1858; Property Qualification, Or No Property Qualification: A few Facts From the Record of Patriotic Services of the Colored Men of New York, During the Wars of 1776 and 1812, With a Compendium of Their Present Business, and Property Statistics, 1860, and The Loyalty and Devotion of Colored Americans in the Revolution and War of 1812, 1861.

After the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the final issue of the Liberator carried his last article entitled 'Farewell to the Liberator.' Nell felt he had accomplished most of his goals. However, he continued publishing historical and biographical information and enjoying the balance of his short life. It is vital that his important work be brought to light for contemporary audiences. Nell's character is captured and is testimony to his tireless efforts to improve the intellectual level of the free Black.

WE THE UNDERSIGNED, request for consideration a postage stamp in honor of William Cooper Nell (1816-1874), a Boston postal clerk and the first African American federal employee who was hired by John Palfry in 1864. This request will be submitted to the CITIZENS' STAMP ADVISORY COMMITTEE.