![\"Hoosier](\"http:\/\/about.usps.com\/news\/national-releases\/2016\/images\/pr16_048.jpg\" "\\"Hoosier")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 A stunning photograph taken at sunset over cornfields in Milford, IN, by a young photographer raised there was selected as the Forever stamp to celebrate Indiana\u2019s 200th statehood anniversary. Indiana became the 19th state of the Union Dec., 11, 1816. Celebration festivities will take place throughout the year.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0<\/span>Indiana Statehood Forever Stamp<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>was issued today at the state capitol in Indianapolis. Indiana Governor Mike Pence helped dedicate the stamp. The public is asked to share the news on social media using the hashtag\u00a0<\/span>#Indianastatehood.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn our state\u2019s bicentennial year, it is altogether fitting that we memorialize the occasion with the issuance of the Indiana Statehood Forever Stamp, which so vividly captures the beauty of rural Indiana,\u201d said Governor Pence, who joined the Postal Service in dedicating the stamp. \u201cIts image will tell of Indiana\u2019s unique beauty as it\u2019s sent to untold locations around the country and around the world. As the sun sets on Indiana\u2019s first 200 years of history, we look forward to a new dawn that builds on the vision cast over our last two centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat better place to unveil the Indiana Statehood stamp than here in the Indiana Statehouse,\u201d said U.S. Postal Service Great Lakes Area Vice President Jacqueline Krage Strako in dedicating the stamp. \u201cSince 1887,\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>decisions made inside this spectacular building have helped to shape the land, people, and culture of the Hoosier State and the country. In the coming weeks and months, we anticipate that Post Offices across Indiana will greet many customers who are thrilled at the opportunity to affix a piece of their state\u2019s history to the upper right corner of every piece of their mail. This stamp belongs to everyone. It belongs to history enthusiasts, art admirers, nature photographers, and those who are simply captivated by Michael Matti\u2019s sunset imagery.\u201d<\/p>\n Joining Governor Pence and Krage Strako in dedicating the stamp were stamp photographerMichael Matti<\/em><\/a>; Indiana First Lady Karen Pence; Historian Jim Madison; Bicentennial Commission Co-Chair Becky Skillman and Indiana Bicentennial Executive Director Perry Hammock. Miss Indiana 2015 Morgan Jackson sang the national anthem and the Indianapolis Children\u2019s Choir provided renditions of historic Indiana songs.<\/p>\n Getting the Photo<\/strong> Matti, today an adventure and travel photographer, grew up in Milford and had driven past that view hundreds of times until one day he decided to pull over, stand on top of his car, and take in the beautiful sunset.<\/p>\n \u201cI was home from Wesleyan University for the summer and on my way back to Milford from a friend’s house in Warsaw when I pulled over and took this photo of the sunset,\u201d explained Matti.<\/p>\n \u201cI drove by this road every day to Lakeland Christian Academy, so I had seen this view hundreds of times. On this particular evening, the sky just lit up and produced this remarkable sunset. I couldn’t resist pulling over, standing on top of my car, and snagging this photo.\u201d<\/p>\n Matti grabbed the shot July 22, 2012, on the corner of W 1100 N and 15, just south of Milford. He used a Canon EOS 60D camera and a Canon 10-22mm lens.\u00a0The shot is a blend of three photos taken in rapid succession at different exposures to capture details near the bright sun as well as in the shadows of the corn.\u00a0One shot was at normal exposure, the second was two f-stops underexposed and the third was two f-stops overexposed. The three were merged and blended together in Photoshop to create the final image.<\/p>\n The U.S. Postal Service receives about 40,000 suggestions for stamps each year, yet only about 25 topics make the cut. To have one\u2019s work appear on a stamp is extremely rare. Art director Derry Noyes of Washington, DC, designed the stamp with Matti\u2019s existing photograph. Matti currently resides in Seattle, WA.<\/p>\n America\u2019s Heartland<\/strong> Indiana\u2019s progress toward statehood began with the creation of the Northwest Territory in 1787, which encouraged settlement in the region. In the succeeding years, new legislation further hastened settlement by making the purchase of land more affordable to pioneering families. Indiana was the second of five states, after Ohio in 1803, carved out of the original Northwest Territory.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s fertile soil \u2014 a legacy of Ice Age glaciers that flattened and enriched much of its terrain \u2014 made for ideal farm country. Corn was the most commonly planted crop during the 19th century and remains today a staple of the state\u2019s agricultural economy, along with soybeans. More than 60 percent of Indiana\u2019s land is still used for farming.<\/p>\n Manufacturing became increasingly important to the state\u2019s economy by the late 19th century. Indiana spawned such homegrown companies as the pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly, founded in 1876, and Ball Brothers (now Ball Corporation), founded in 1880 and the largest producer of glass jars in the nation by 1900. The petroleum industry came to the state after Standard Oil Company built a huge refinery in Whiting, on the shores of Lake Michigan, in 1889.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Also along the lakeshore, United States Steel Corporation erected a massive steel mill in 1908 and founded the city of Gary, named after its chairman, Elbert Gary.<\/p>\n At the beginning of the 20th century, Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company of South Bend, a leading maker of horse-drawn wagons since the 1850s, entered the automobile business and propelled the state for a time to the fore of the new industry. In 1909, the state capital of Indianapolis \u2014 once a magnet for railway traffic \u2014 became the site of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where new car models were tested. In 1911, the speedway hosted the first Indianapolis 500 race. Today, it hosts four racing events and is the world\u2019s largest spectator sporting facility, with a seating capacity of 250,000.<\/p>\n In addition to being the home of race-car driving, Indiana became prime basketball country in the 1920s, embracing the new sport with a fervor that few other states could match. Thousands of spectators packed local high school gyms, and state tournaments generated something like the excitement of college basketball tournaments of a later era. The 1986 movie,\u00a0<\/span>Hoosiers<\/em>, about a high school team in the 1950s, captures the flavor of the state\u2019s passion for the sport. Legendary players Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird were among the finest products of Indiana\u2019s basketball culture.<\/p>\n Literary Icons<\/strong> Historic Sites<\/strong> Forever stamps always will be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.<\/p>\n Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at a local Post Office, at The Postal Store website,\u00a0<\/span>usps.com?shop<\/em><\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>or by calling 800-782-6724. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes to themselves or others, and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:<\/p>\n Indiana Statehood Stamp After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by Aug. 7, 2016.<\/p>\n The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly\u00a0<\/span>USA Philatelic<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>catalog, online atusps.com?shop<\/em><\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>or by calling 800-782-6724. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to:<\/p>\n U.S. Postal Service The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 A stunning photograph taken at sunset over cornfields in Milford, IN, by a young photographer raised there was selected as the Forever stamp to celebrate Indiana\u2019s 200th statehood anniversary. Indiana became the 19th state of the Union Dec., 11, 1816. Celebration festivities will take place throughout the year. The\u00a0Indiana Statehood Forever Stamp\u00a0was issued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usps-news","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15216"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15218,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15216\/revisions\/15218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cThis has to be one of the highlights of my career thus far,\u201d said Matti. \u201cIt is truly an honor to have my work immortalized on a Forever stamp.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWith good reason, Indiana has often been considered the heartland of America. Striving to find a middle way has been part of its heritage since frontier times, when it attracted settlers from both north and south. According to historian James H. Madison in\u00a0<\/span>The Indiana Way,<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>this influx created a distinctive culture that was more western than northern or southern.<\/p>\n
\nIndiana also has made significant contributions to American literature. During what has been called Indiana Literature\u2019s Golden Age, the poet James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) and the novelist Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) developed devoted readerships. Riley wrote of simpler, more rustic times in such beloved poems as \u201cThe Old Swimmin\u2019 Hole\u201d and \u201cLittle Orphant Annie.\u201d Tarkington wrote of the effects of urbanization and industrial growth on Indiana in\u00a0<\/span>The Gentleman from Indiana\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(1899) and in the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel\u00a0<\/span>The Magnificent Ambersons<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>(1918). A writer with a more modern sensibility who drew upon his childhood in Terre Haute and other Indiana towns was Theodore Dreiser, most famous for\u00a0<\/span>Sister Carrie<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>(1900) and\u00a0<\/span>An American Tragedy<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>(1925). I would surely include Gene Stratton Porter in this list, she had several top selling novels in the early 20th centrury \u2013 was hugely popular.<\/p>\n
\nSome historic sites that help tell the story of Indiana include the Vincennes State Historic Sites, where visitors can learn about Indiana\u2019s oldest city, Vincennes, the capital of Indiana Territory. The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City gives a snapshot of the environment that nourished Abraham Lincoln in his youth from 1816 to 1830. At Historic New Harmony, one can learn about the famous utopian community of the early 19th century. The Levi Coffin Home, a National Historic Landmark in the town of Fountain City, preserves one of the most important \u201cstations\u201d of the Underground Railroad. Another National Historic Landmark is the restored home of the 23rd president of the United States at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOrdering First-Day-of-Issue Postmarks<\/h4>\n
\nPostmaster
\n125 West South Street
\nIndianapolis, IN 46206-9998<\/p>\nOrdering First-Day Covers<\/h4>\n
\nCatalog Request
\nPO Box 219014
\nKansas City, MO 64121-9014<\/p>\n