Politics And Religion

I finally got around to cataloging a lot of covers that I acquired a few months ago and came across this label on a cover postmarked in Monrovia, CA on August 16, 1959.



I initially thought that the label may have been associated with the run-up to the 1960 U.S. Presidential election in which John F. Kennedy would defeat then-Vice President Richard Nixon and become America's first Catholic President.

But now I'm wondering if it was something used to advance the cause of the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State which had been formed in 1947 and opposed any encroachment on the first clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

If anyone has information on the origing of this label I'd appreciate hearing from you.

Two things my ol' Dad always told me never to discuss. I love the label though. Something both our countries would do well to remember these days.

Sorry I can't contribute to the origins of the piece, but I look forward to the discussion. Nice one.

Keep Church and State Separate Seals
Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State
1633 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036

As per Wikipedia:
Americans United for Separation of Church and State was founded in 1947 as Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State (POAU) by a broad coalition of religious, educational and civic leaders in response to proposals pending in the U.S. Congress to extend government aid to private religious schools. They believed that government support for religious education would violate church-state separation. The decision was made to form a national organization to promote this point of view and defend the separation principle.

The organization aimed to influence political leaders, and it began publishing Church & State magazine and other materials in support of church-state separation to educate the general public. These activities continue today and form the core of Americans United's operations.[citation needed]

In its first years a main focus of AU's activity was opposition to the political agenda of the Roman Catholic Church and it was seen by critics as an anti-Catholic organization. In 1960 AU Executive Director Glenn L. Archer entered into a dialog with presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to assess his views on church-state relations.

Thanks Timm.

According to the Baylor University Institute of Church-State Studies, the labels (seals) were given to donors by the Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the predecessor organization to what is now Americans United.

Much of the group's records are held at the Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University ( http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/ns0646010 ).

Here is a sheet of seals taken from the Baylor site that contains one central to the design that describes their complimentary nature.

I have a full sheet of these stamps. The sheet format of these seals/labels is unusual in that it is 5 across and 9 down; making it a sheet of 45. Most other seals are usually 5 across and 10 down; making them sheets of 50.

Timm,

Is there any margin on your sheet or is the sheet cut straight on all four sides?

Steve

No margins;cut straight on all four sides.