BRUNSWICK — Ceremonies in Brunswick and Skowhegan on Wednesday marked the debut of postage stamps honoring two women who play a big role in the nation's history: the late Sen. Margaret Chase Smith and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe.

In Skowhegan, there was a special first-day postmark for a 58-cent stamp featuring Smith, who was the first woman to serve in both chambers of Congress and the first woman to be nominated for the presidency, at the 1964 Republican convention.

Smith, who was raised in Skowhegan, was known for her "Declaration of Conscience" address denouncing the excesses of the Red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy, a fellow Republican.

Smith died in 1995 at the age of 97.

In Brunswick, there was a first-day postmark for a 75-cent stamp honoring Stowe, who wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in Brunswick while her husband Calvin was teaching theology at Bowdoin College from 1950 to 1951.

Though Stowe spent only two years in Brunswick, she left a lasting impression. Stowe Hall is a six-story student residence named after her. The college also acquired the Stowe House in 2001 with a goal of preserving it.

The two stamps, announced in March, were the latest in the U.S. Postal Service's Distinguished Americans series.