Dominican postal service and city hall issue commemorative stamp honoring Salomé Ureña on 175th birthday

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Postal Institute (Inposdom) and the National District Mayor’s Office on Tuesday unveiled a limited-edition postage stamp commemorating the 175th anniversary of Salomé Ureña de Henríquez, the poet and educator credited with opening higher education to Dominican women. The formal ceremony took place at the monument to Fray Antonio de Montesinos and drew cultural figures, education leaders and philatelists, as well as Insposdom Director Erick Guzmán Núñez and Santo Domingo Mayor Carolina Mejía.

Guzmán Núñez described the issue as more than a collectible. “This postal release preserves Salomé Ureña’s memory and projects her legacy as a symbol of national identity,” he said, adding that the stamp also reinforces the state’s commitment to inclusive, high-quality education with a gender equity focus. Mayor Mejía hailed the tribute as a recognition of Ureña’s role in challenging social barriers and shaping the nation’s educational foundations.

The commemorative stamp is a square format (40 × 40 mm) printed on tropicalized gummed paper, with perforation 13½. The edition is strictly limited to 10,000 copies, each carrying a face value of RD$75.00. The composition and design were led by architect Alejandro Vignieri; the principal effigy reproduction was produced by London firm Mindel & Farandy, and printing was executed by Litografía Ferrúa under Decree No. 37-25, dated January 22, 2025.

As part of the official launch, organizers performed the first-day cancellation and signed first-day covers, a ritual that formally introduces the stamps into national circulation, ensuring collectors nationwide can obtain the new issue. Officials emphasized that the philatelic release is intended both as a tribute and as an educational tool to keep Ureña’s contributions alive in public memory.

Salomé Ureña (1850–1897) founded the Instituto de Señoritas in 1881, a pioneering school that trained the country’s first generation of female teachers and helped professionalize education for women. Her influence on Dominican letters and pedagogy endures; organizers quoted her maxim: “To educate a woman is to prepare, with her, a family; and to educate families is to build the nation.”

The stamp release is part of a broader partnership between Inposdom and the National District Mayor’s Office to preserve Dominican cultural heritage and promote philately as a vehicle for collective memory and civic education.