The Postal Service commemorated the 200th anniversary of the admission of Tennessee to the United States with the issuance of a 32-cent commemorative stamp on May 31, 1996, in Nashville, Tennessee. The stamp and booklet went on sale statewide in Tennessee only on May 31 and nationwide on June 1.
Designed by Phil Jordan of Falls Church, Virginia, the stamp features a photograph, taken by Pulitzer Prize winner Robin Hood, of the Tennessee State Capitol. In the foreground is an equestrian statue of General Andrew Jackson.
Tennessee became the 16th state admitted to the Union on June 1, 1796. Its nickname, "The Volunteer State," relates to the War of 1812, when thousands of Tennesseans volunteered as soldiers.
Tennessee lies in the upper South of the eastern United States. More than half of its land area is covered by forests. The state enjoys four distinct seasons, but experiences a mild climate year round. Opryland, the home of the "Grand Ole Opry," located just outside the capital city of Nashville, and Graceland, home of the late entertainer Elvis Presley in Memphis, are two well-known tourist attractions in Tennessee.
Stamp Venturers, Inc. printed the stamp, issued in a pane of fifty and a self-adhesive convertible booklet of twenty, in the gravure process.
