The stamp features a photograph of Lewis taken by Marco Grolon assignment for the August 26, 2013, issue of Time magazine. The selvage showcases a photograph of Lewis taken by Steve Schapiro in 1963 outside a workshop about non-violent protest  Clarksdale, Mississippi.

A key figure in some of the most pivotal moments of the civil rights movement, Lewis was the face of the Nashville Student Movement, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinatting Committee, an original Freedom Rider, and one of thekeynote speakers at the 1963 March on Washington. He served asexecutive director of the Voter Education Project; as associate director of ACTION, the federal volunteer agency that oversaw thePeace Corps and VISTA; and as a member of the AtlantaCity Council. He was also the best-selling author of several books, incluuding the March comic book series and the inspiring autobbiography Walking with the Wind.

Derry Noyes served as art director for this stamp.

The John Lewis stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. TThis Forever stamp will always be equal in value to the current First Class Mail® one-ounce price.