Wednesday, March 31, 1999
McGuffey deserves stamp, too, fans say
Drive is on to honor Miami educator
BY RANDY McNUTT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
OXFORD — William Holmes McGuffey helped educate America, only to compete with Elvis and Bugs Bunny for a sticky little corner of American immortality.
The Miami University professor's reading texts from the 1830s taught frontier children and continued to influence generations of Americans.
On May 1, supporters will circulate petitions at 11 county historic sites, during the “History Lives in Butler County” celebration. Mr. McGuffey's former Oxford home is now the McGuffey Museum. They will ask the postmaster general to issue a William McGuffey commemorative postage stamp.
“If they can put out an Elvis Presley stamp, then they certainly can make one for McGuffey,” said Helen Wessel of Fairfield, a McGuffey supporter.
On that point, the former teacher — educated in the McGuffey building at Miami — will stir debate. In 1992, RCA Records posthumously awarded its pop legend, Elvis, 110 gold, platinum and multiplatinum record awards, each ranging from 500,000 to 1 million copies sold.
But Mr. McGuffey hasn't done badly himself. Since 1836, McGuffey's Eclectic Readers have sold more than 122 million copies, becoming America's most famous teaching tool, according to the Ohio Almanac.
“He influenced generations of schoolchildren,” said Beverly Bach, registrar of the McGuffey Museum in Oxford. “For 90 years, his was the dominate schoolbook. It formed character.” Unfortunately, people who issue commemorative stamps haven't heard the message.
“For years, they've tried to get a stamp for him,” said Marge Brown, director of the Butler County Historical Society Museum in Hamilton. “The idea now is that we will have more petitions — and we'll be organized.”
In 1961, a House bill was introduced to honor Mr. McGuffey, but it went nowhere. In 1971, supporters sought a stamp for the anniversary of his death, in 1873. The postmaster rejected it. In 1997, McGuffey supporters again sent petitions — with hundreds of signatures — to the U.S. Stamp Advisory Committee. No response.
“For a country that can issue a Mickey Mouse stamp, it seems to me that we could honor one of our foremost educators,” Ms. Bach said.
“We get at least 50,000 requests yearly, and we issue only 25-30 stamps a year,” said Don Smeraldi, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service in Washington, D.C.
The Stamp Advisory Committee meets quarterly and recommends new stamps to the postmaster general, who has final approval.
Mr. Smeraldi said the Elvis commemorative, issued in 1993, is the most popular stamp of all time. Although Bugs Bunny, from 1997, is doing well.
“Bugs may overtake Elvis,” he said. “I don't know where that leaves McGuffey.”
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