First woman to be featured on stamp, 1893

1893

first woman on stamp

The first woman to appear on a U.S. postage stamp was Queen Isabella in 1893. The first American woman honored on stamp was Martha Washington in 1902.

* | Tags: History Stamps USPS Fact #337 | April 19, 2024

The support of Queen Isabella was essential to Columbus’s expedition. Though the subject of the 1-dollar stamp suggests that Queen Isabella sold her jewels to fund Columbus’s expedition, in reality the Queen offered limited financial support. However, her decision to endorse Columbus’s voyage in the name of Spain made the discovery of the “New World” possible.

The portrait of Queen Isabella on the 4-dollar stamp is the first portrait of a woman to appear on a US postage stamp.