USPS Releases Stamp Featuring Musician Lydia Mendoza

On May 13, the U.S. Postal Service released a Lydia Mendoza (Forever®) stamp honoring the life of one of the first stars of Tejano music. On the stamp, Lydia Mendoza (1916-2007) is shown strumming a 12-string guitar. The stamp is one of several that inaugurates the USPS's Music Icons series.

The square stamp was designed to capture the look of a vintage 45 rpm record sleeve. It features a black-and-white, 1950s publicity photo of Mendoza that was provided to the USPS by the Arhoolie Foundation. The CSRC and UCLA Library have worked with the Arhoolie Foundation to digitize for public use and create a book about the Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings, which includes works by Mendoza.

Deborah R. Vargas, associate professor of Ethnic Studies at University of California, Riverside, was commissioned to write the biographical narrative for the Mendoza stamp. Vargas was a 2007-2008 post doctoral fellow at the CSRC and has worked extensively with the Strachwitz Frontera Collection.

To purchase the stamp and related items, visit the USPS.