In August 1997, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that directed the U.S. Postal Service to issue its first semipostal, a stamp sold with a surcharge to raise funds for a specific cause: breast cancer research.  First issued on July 29, 1998, the BCR Stamp was the country’s first fundraising stamp.

U.S. Postal Service art director Ethel Kessler, herself a breast cancer survivor, approached illustrator Whitney Sherman of Baltimore, Maryland.  Mindful of mythology, Sherman remembered Diana, goddess of the hunt—a strong, independent, survival-minded figure—and the artwork developed into a depiction of the goddess reaching for an arrow. Kessler and Sherman finalized this image by removing a target from the figure’s right breast and encircling the area with a concise phrase. The text complemented the visuals and clearly encapsulated the message of the stamp: “Fund the fight. Find a cure.”