Washington: Monuments – Jefferson Memorial

Outgoing postcard US-3238647 sent to Crimea on this Presidents' Day was one of first two stamped picture postcards ever issued by USPS in 1989, featuring the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. dedicated to Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826). One of the most important of the American "Founding Fathers," Thomas Jefferson was the main drafter and writer of the "Declaration of Independence" and served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was also the founder of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, Virginia.

The postcard costs 50 cents each in 1989 with 15 cents postage featuring the Tidal Basin landmark framed by cherry blossoms. The other postcard issued at the same time features the White House with a view from the south lawn.

University of Virginia in Charlottesville

Postcard US-3149031 to China shows the lawn at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Established in 1819, the central quadrangle was designed by Thomas Jefferson. He planned the two story Pavilions as homes for professors, who lived upstairs and taught downstairs. Between them are rows of single rooms where students have lived since 1825. It's part of the Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville World Heritage Site recognized by UNESCO in 1987.

Update: In his State of Union address to the nation this evening, President Obama challenged the Congress to make two-year community college free under certain conditions, and to overhaul tax codes to shift benefits away from wealthy Americans in order to offer tax credits for college. As a public and state-affiliated institution, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville offers a good example on what investment on higher education can do for the nation by its association with 7 Nobel Laureates, 7 NASA astronauts, 7 Marshall Scholars, 4 Churchill Scholars, 29 Truman Scholars, and 50 Rhodes Scholars,

Our Lives Begin to End the Day We Become Silent about Things that Matter

As we honor the 85th Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., who was born on January 15, 1929, he is remembered as the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement that challenged racial discrimination in federal and state laws. What he once said "Our Lives Begin to End the Day We Become Silent about Things that Matter" still rings true today.

The postcard shows the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument in Washington D.C. with a 2013 USPS March on Washington 50th Anniversary forever stamp. The first-day-of-issue cancellation was requested on October 23, 2013 and received on December 7, 2013.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, an American federal holiday that celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., is observed on the third Monday of January each year. For 2014, it will be on January 20. It is not trivia to note that some states had resisted observing the holiday, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It had not officially observed in all 50 states until 2000.

The 4th of July and Thomas Jefferson Memorial

I received a postcard US-2282865 a few days before the Independence Day, 2013, the 237th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It features the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, directly south to the White House, in Washington DC.

Thomas Jefferson, one of the American Founding Fathers, was the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

According to Wikipedia, Thomas Jefferson believed that each man has "certain inalienable rights". He defines the right of "liberty" by saying, "Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others...". A proper government, for Jefferson, is one that not only prohibits individuals in society from infringing on the liberty of other individuals, but also restrains itself from diminishing individual liberty.

Coincidentally, Thomas Jefferson died the same day as John Adams, second president of the United States, on July 4, 1826

The U.S. Postal Service issued 100 million se-tenant Cherry Blossom Centennial Forever stamps (with one scene across two stamps) on March 24, 2012 showing cherry trees in full-bloom around the Tidal Basin. The Washington Monument on the left and the Jefferson Memorial on the right form the backdrop for the stamps.