Gwen Ifill honored with Black Heritage Forever stamp

WASHINGTON D.C. - The United States Post Office is honoring Gwen Ifill, the late esteemed journalist, with a Black Heritage Forever stamp this year. 

Ifill co-anchored PBS’ “NewsHour” and worked in its newsroom for 17 years. 

The stamp features a 2008 professional photograph of Ifill and her full name at the bottom. She is seen happily smiling.

Ifill’s Forever stamp is the 43rd one in the USPS’ “Black Heritage” series honoring African Americans and their contributions. The respected journalist’s stamp joins prominent civil rights leaders including Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sojourner Truth. 

Ifill also began moderating “Washington Week” on PBS in 1999, becoming the first woman and first black journalist to helm a major national politics show. 

In 2013, Ifill in co-anchoring PBS’ “Newshour” with Judy Woodruff made history, as they became the first female co-anchors of a major news broadcast.

Woodruff has said that Ifill was the “best partner one can imagine, because she was committed to fairness,” according to PBS. Woodruff also once described her late co-anchor as one of the “most graceful interrupters” she’s ever seen, the Washington Post reported.

The celebrated veteran journalist was 61 years old when she died in 2016 after a yearlong battle with cancer. 

A former reporter for The New York Times and The Washington Post, Ifill transitioned to television in the 1990s, covering politics and Congress for NBC News. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.