About This Stamp
With the issuance of this stamp in 2007, the U.S. Postal Service commemorated the centennial of Oklahoma's statehood.
The stamp design features an evocative painting by Oklahoma artist Mike Larsen, whose father was Chickasaw. In Larsen's painting, morning sunlight touches the waters of the Cimarron, one of several rivers that meander through the state. For many people, the name "Cimarron" conjures up images of the Old West. Along the banks of this storied river ran the southern branch of the Santa Fe Trail (1821–1880), one of the most heavily traveled wagon roads to the West. In the years following the Civil War, Texas cowboys drove millions of cattle across the Cimarron as they made their way north to Kansas along the Chisholm Trail. And in 1889, would-be settlers poured across the river in the first of several government-sponsored land runs. Renowned author Edna Ferber featured this land run in her acclaimed novel Cimarron (1929), which was later made into an Oscar-winning film.
Also included in the stamp design are the words "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'…" recalling a popular song from the musical Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.
Art Director & Designer
Phil Jordan
Phil Jordan grew up in New Bern, North Carolina, and attended East Carolina University. After Army service in Alaska, he graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in visual communications. He worked in advertising and in design at a trade association before joining Beveridge and Associates, Inc., where he provided art direction for corporate, institutional, and government design projects. A partner in the firm, he left after 18 years to establish his own design firm where he managed projects for USAir, NASA, McGraw-Hill, IBM, and Smithsonian Books, among others. He was Design Director of Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine for 15 years. His work appeared in numerous exhibitions and publications such as Graphis and Communications Arts. A past president of the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, he was an art director for the U.S. Postal Service from 1991 to 2014. A resident of Falls Church, Virginia, he is a retired glider pilot and a member of the Skyline Soaring Club.