National Postal Museum

Remembering the Titanic

By Daniel Piazza, Philately Department

This year’s anniversary of Titanic’s sinking is a pretty low-key affair. Last year was the centenary, and there were hundreds of commemorations all over the world that garnered a lot of media attention. Everyone is interested in a hundredth anniversary, but a hundred-and-first somehow does not seem as important.

A crowd will gather at the Washington, D.C. Titanic memorial, as they do every year, but it will be a fraction of the three to four hundred who showed up last year at midnight.

If you don’t want to venture to the Southeast waterfront, you can instead come to the National Postal Museum and see original sketches of the memorial by its sculptor, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, on loan to us from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.

 

Loan from Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Even if you have viewed Fire & Ice before, a number of new pieces were installed in January that make it worth a second look. The National Archives in New York has loaned us a manual of ship’s regulations that once belonged to Titanic survivor and White Star Line managing director J. Bruce Ismay. Published in 1907, the book was standard issue on all ships belonging to the International Mercantile Marine Co., including Titanic. We have opened it to the page dealing with “Custody of the Mails.”

 

 

Loan from National Archives and Records Administration (New York)

One of the most famous radio transmissions of all time is memorialized on this Marconi company form from Olympic’s radio room. At 1:13 a.m., one hour and forty minutes after striking an iceberg, Titanic tells Olympic, “We are putting the passengers off in small boats.” This was one of the last intelligible messages sent by Titanic. “N.Y.T.” stands for “New York Time,” which Second Officer Charles Lightoller reckoned was 1 hour and 33 minutes behind Titanic’s time.

 

On loan from Dr. Edward and Joanne Dauer.

Chicago physician Frank Blackmarr, a passenger aboard Carpathia when that ship received Titanic’s distress signals, assisted the ship’s surgeon treating survivors. He collected numerous relics of the disaster, including the autographs and addresses of Titanic’s four surviving officers. The autographs, from top to bottom, are: Fourth Officer James Graves Boxhall; Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller; and Fifth Officer Harold Godfrey Lowe. Third Officer Herbert John Pitman signed on a separate sheet (not shown).

 

 

Loan from Brian, Maria, and Alexander Green

So, even though the “big anniversary” is behind us, a visit to Fire & Ice at the National Postal Museum is a new opportunity to learn about the disaster and reflect on the enormity of Titanic’s loss.    

 

Secrets of the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery

By Cheryl Ganz, Philately Department

When visitors come to the opening of the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery on Sunday, September 22, they will see stamp rarities, learn wonderful stories about stamps and mail, and experience philately in ways they never imagined. But one thing they will not see is a small, flat box hidden behind the walls in the post office’s old vault space!

On February 28, 2013, Allen Kane, NPM director (above-left); Glen Hopkins, design and construction manager (center); and Cheryl Ganz, lead curator (right), hid a time capsule. The staff and Council of Philatelists (a museum advisory board of top stamp collectors) contributed to the contents with signed business cards, philatelic journals and artifacts, museum publications and ephemera, and tokens of life in America in 2013. A message inside to those who someday will open the time capsule tells them that it was stowed in memory of W. Wilson Hulme (1946-2007), the Chief Curator of Philately who dreamed of a Philatelic Center of Excellence but died before the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery was conceived.

John Hotchner, Council of Philatelists, Signing Stairwell.

In addition to the time capsule, during construction, staff and the Council of Philatelists signed beams and the stairwell recently put in place by Clark Construction Group. Many left messages so that, if the building is ever dismantled, future generations will know how very excited we all are to share the creation of the world's largest postage stamp gallery.

Staff Members Signing Beam.

 

 

USPS Unveils Inverted Jenny Stamp

Director of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum Allen Kane and USPS Director of Stamp Services and Corporate Licensing Susan McGowan unveiled the preliminary design for an Inverted Jenny stamp at the APS AmeriStamp Expo stamp show in Louisville, Kentucky today (Friday, January 18, 2013).

 

$2 Stamp Collecting: Inverted Jenny Stamp (Stamp design reflects preliminary artwork and is subject to change.)

The preliminary design includes replicas of America’s most famous stamp and one of the world’s most famous errors. The margins of the stamp sheet feature images related to the 24-cent Curtiss Jenny stamp and the 1918 inaugural airmail service, including pilot Major Reuben Fleet of the Army Air Corps and the Washington DC – Philadelphia - New York airmail flight route. In the upper left corner is the main post office in Washington, DC, at the time, which would process airmail and currently houses the National Postal Museum.

This famous U.S. stamp printing error occurred at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing during the week of May 6-13, 1918. One sheet of one hundred stamps with an inverted image of a blue airplane escaped detection. The error occurred either when an inverted carmine frame sheet

The 24-cent Curtiss Jenny invert error

was fed into the small hand press for the second impression or when the plate printer, after inking and wiping, placed an inverted blue vignette plate into the press. The biplane featured in the design is the famous JN-4-H "Jenny," modified by replacing the front cockpit with a mail compartment.

Another post office in Washington, DC, sold the error sheet on May 14, 1918, to William T. Robey. The lucky collector sold it to Eugene Klein, a Philadelphia stamp dealer, for $15,000. Klein then sold the sheet to collector Colonel H.R. Green and recommended breaking the sheet into blocks and singles to sell. The entire discovery and sales received enormous press.

The new stamp sheet will be issued on September 22, opening day of the National Postal Museum’s William H. Gross Stamp Gallery. The Gross Stamp Gallery will be the world’s largest stamp gallery. A block of four of the original 1918 Inverted Jenny will be on permanent display courtesy of Bill Gross.

 

 Click here for USPS press release.

First-Day Ceremony: Emancipation Proclamation Commemorative Forever Stamp

By: Calvin Mitchell, NPM Research Associate

On January 1, 2013 at 9:00 A.M. the United States Postal Service (USPS) held the first- day ceremony for the Emancipation Proclamation commemorative forever stamp in the magnificent Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives.  The selection of January 1, 2013 as the first- day of issue was historically consistent as the date marked the 150th Anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln. Scheduling the first- day ceremony on New Year’s Day resulted in the stamp’s release on a Federal holiday, which is a rare event, but scheduling the first- day ceremony at the National Archives allowed this momentous event to become an integral part the 150th Anniversary celebration from Sunday, December 30-Tuesday, January 1.

A’Lelia Bundles, President of the Foundation for the National Archives, served as the Master Of Ceremonies. She recognized the importance of the ceremony to stamp collectors by asking how many people in the audience were stamp collectors, which resulted in a significant number of people raising their hands.  She used this occasion to pay homage to her own ancestors who were enslaved at the time the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. She also read a stirring proclamation issued from “another president,” President Obama, which commemorated the sesquicentennial anniversary of the signing.

Ms. Bundles was followed by David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, who began his presentation by saying “Welcome to my house.” During his brief speech he cited the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation as a document that added a moral dimension to the Civil War.

Ronald Stroman, the Deputy Postmaster General representing the USPS, gave the keynote address and spoke about the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation in changing the “arc of history” forever in America and the enduring significance the document holds in American history. “It is a legacy we choose not only to remember, but also to make our own.”  The unveiling ceremony occurred after his brief remarks.

After the unveiling Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, who is a singer, composer, and founder of the a cappella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock, opened her presentation with a very brief but beautiful hymn. She followed with a dramatic reading of the original Emancipation Proclamation. The presentation closed with a stirring performance by the Washington Revels Jubilee Voices. The group enthralled the audience with spirituals and gospel music sung by African Americans during the Civil War period. At the conclusion of the ceremony, which lasted about 45 minutes, attendees were given the rare opportunity to view the original Emancipation Proclamation displayed in the East Rotunda Gallery.

Button produced by the US National Archives and distributed to the general public during the 150th Anniversary events.

 

Program prepared for the first- day ceremony held on August 16, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois for the release of the stamp commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. This stamp shown on the program was designed by Greg Olden, who was the first African American to design a US postal stamp.

 

First- Day Program, signed by Gail Anderson, the stamp designer. Copies of the programs were found on the seats when attendees entered the Rotunda.

Post Ceremonial Activities

After the event the, USPS set- up shop in the National Archives’ Bookstore to sell philatelic products related to the stamp’s release and provide collectors with three different postmarks: a pictorial postmark, a bull’s eye postmark and a regular four bar first- day of issue postmark.   As usual, collectors will have to mail in items and pay (fifty cents per item) to receive the digital postmark.   Interestingly enough, a number of collectors actually had entire panes autographed by the stamp designer and postmarked at the Archives.  Moreover, sales at the postal service counter were very brisk. The postal service reported that attendees purchased $6000 of philatelic items.

Gail Anderson was spotted purchasing philatelic items from the postal service and was sought out for her autograph, which she gladly provided upon request.

 

Set of three Artcraft covers (above) prepared for the issuance of the 1963 Emancipation Proclamation Stamp I used to obtain the pictorial postmark designed for the issuance of the 150th Anniversary Stamp. I had the stamp designer for the 150th Anniversary Stamp autograph the cover. Note the two varieties in the circular postmarks used on the 1963 centennial stamp.

 

First day cover sold at the ceremony by the USPS and autographed by the stamp designer.

 

The Burrow Brothers

By Nancy Pope, Historian and Curator

On December 9, 1887, 125 years ago, a gang of train robbers stopped and boarded the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway train just as it began to pull out of Genoa, Arkansas, 30 miles north of Texarkana. After forcing the train to a stop, the men ordered the engineer to set fire to the Southern Express Company car unless the man inside surrendered and unlocked the door. He did so, and the thieves proceeded to gather up a few thousand dollars from the car. As one of the men began to make his way toward the mail car another reportedly warned him that “if they disturbed the mail it would go hard on them.”[1] Mail clerk R.P. Johnson noted that with that admonition the men left the mail car undisturbed, taking their loot and running away. Detectives found a raincoat at the scene, and traced it through the store to the man who bought it, W.J. Brock, who admitted his guilt and fingered two brothers as his accomplices.

The men Brock named were none other than James and Reuben “Rube” Burrow who had already robbed at least three other trains prior to this one. The brothers were found, and while James was captured, Rube managed to escape. James’s trial for the Genoa train robbery was still underway when he died from tuberculosis in a Texarkana jail. Brock was released for his part in turning the boys in. Rube and Brock paired up again for another train robbery, this time Rube killed a passenger in the attempt. Rube’s friends and extended family helped hide him in their home county - Lamar County, Mississippi. Wanted posters and alerts for Rube were sent to a number of post offices in the area, and in July 1889 Burrow shot and killed postmaster Mose Graves when Graves refused to turn over a suspicious package to Burrow (it held a wig and fake moustache).

Rube was captured the next year on October 9, 1890 and taken to jail in Linden, Alabama. There, he managed to get his hands on a gun and after locking the guards in his cell headed out for his escape. He was quickly spotted and shot dead on December 8, 1890.

Reuben “Rube” Burrow

Drawing of James Burrow

Drawing of William Brock, the brothers’ accomplice in their December 9, 1887 train robbery.

[1] “Bold Robbers at Work,” New York Times, December 11, 1887, p. 3.

"Ask a Curator" Day a Big Success!

By: Nancy Pope, Historian and Curator and Katie Burke, Museum Specialist

The postal museum was one of dozens of museums participating in Twitter’s “Ask a Curator” day on Wednesday, September 19. Hundreds of questions, using the hashtag #askacurator, peppered curators and museum staffers across the globe. Three postal museum curators participated in the project, which was coordinated at NPM by Web Team member Katie Burke. Postal Historian Nancy Pope, Philatelic Curator Daniel Piazza and Postal History Curator Lynn Heidelbaugh answered questions on topics in philately and postal history, as well as more generic questions on museum and curatorial operations.

The Twitter-based “Ask a Curator” day is just one of a number of new ways the museum is able to reach out to the general public. Social media offers the opportunity not just to lecture the public on objects and history, but to hear directly from them. Through channels like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube members of the public are able to engage the museum in public discussions of objects and topics that interest them. Some were hesitant at first to ask questions, but as “Ask a Curator” day wore on the questions flew.

Nancy’s favorite questions were those that allowed her to share the breadth of the museum’s collections and focus with the public.  She answered questions like, “What exhibit are you most proud of?” (“An exhibit we did several years ago showcasing letters from a Nazi Germany refugee and passenger on the ill-fated SS St. Louis. A story worth telling”) and, “Has any mail ever brought curators to tears?” (“A letter from a Norwegian immigrant to her family back home in Norway—she wrote, ‘I will never see you again in this lifetime.’ Sad and probably true”).

 

The Hope Diamond was mailed in this wrapper, which is now part of the Postal Museum collection

    

The deHavilland biplane in the National Postal Museum Atrium

Katie enjoyed replying to tweeters who were putting together collections of Ask a Curator Day images. When asked to “Help me collect 50 objects that make curators laugh,” NPM sent back a link to the Hope Diamond wrapper and tweeted, “Natural History got the Hope Diamond and all we got was the package!” To another question, “What would be the one object you would save for humanity against disaster?” NPM replied, “The de Havilland biplane. In case of disaster it could get us out of here!” You can see the tweeters’ final object collections here and here.

In general, questions ranged all across the board, from specific questions about particular stamps to queries about how curators spend their workdays. (All of NPM’s questions and answered are archived at Storify: http://storify.com/postalmuseum/ask-a-curator-day.) The questions also revealed a great enthusiasm for museums and museum work, which is always gratifying. Everyone at NPM was glad to see that one of the silliest questions ever asked of one of our curators (“Is the Amelia Earhart suit in your collection the one from her last flight?”) was not asked during this year’s event.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage

Hispanic Americans in the Postal Service and Philately

Since the first Spanish explorers and settlers landed in the Americas, Hispanic and Latino people have shaped the history and culture of the United States. Today, Hispanic and Latino people continue to demonstrate excellence in many areas including politics, public service, music, film, sports, business, science, and the military. The National Postal Museum is proud to recognize the significant contributions of these people and related events though various online exhibits.

Mexico Via Airmail
The Mexican government exported nationalism through images of nature and technology in harmony, comparisons of ancient and contemporary art and culture, and the mix of Ancient Mayan hieroglyphics and fiesta colors with 1960s op-art typography in the 1968 Olympic Games graphic designs. The exhibit is bilingual and features both stamps and mail of Mexico.

                 

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage: People, Places and Events on stamps
Stamps illuminate what we value as a people and a culture, and the National Postal Museum’s Celebrating Hispanic Heritage: People, Places and Events on Stamps sheds new light on the many contributions of Hispanic Americans and Latinos to the exploration, culture, growth, and defense of the United States.  (Celebrating Hispanic Heritage en español)

 

 

 

 

The Pichs Collection: Cuba’s Postal and Aviation History
This virtual exhibition Exploring Cuba’s Postal History, 1830-1939, through the Roberto Pichs Collections is an overview of Cuba’s postal history from the pre-philatelic period to 1939. It includes “folded letters” (pre-philatelic covers), stamped envelopes, and historic postcards, which have never before been published. The virtual exhibition Cuba’s Commercial Aviation History and the Pichs Collection is especially strong in depictions of the history of aviation, including many envelopes commemorative of events in Cuba’s aviation history.

The Great One: Roberto Clemente Walker
Roberto Clemente Walker has been honored on a US postage stamp twice. The first stamp honoring this great baseball player appeared August 17, 1984. He was selected again as a stamp subject in 2000, for the Legends of Baseball series.  (The Great One en español)

Congressional Stamp Exhibit a BIG success!

By Ian Gibson-Smith, National Postal Museum Council of Philatelists

Over 800 people of all ages attended this year’s Congressional Stamp Exhibit, held July 24-26 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. The vast majority spent a significant amount of time playing with and learning about stamps.  (This figure does not count the large number of people who stopped by the table in the hallway to look at and play with the stamps and the folks who came by in the evening while we were not there, which we estimate was at least an additional 200!)  Eight members of Congress participated, and 15 members came by to see the exhibit. Dr. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian, a member of the UK Parliament and a number of other dignitaries stopped by as well.

Between the displays of material from members of Congress, the National Postal Museum frames, the Stamp Collecting 101 exhibit, the U.S. Postal Service educational display, the Stamps Teach table, StampCampUSA participants and the free stamps, we seemed to have had something that appealed to everyone.

The response was uniformly and overwhelmingly positive and we were asked constantly if we could make this an annual event. We received positive press in the Washington Post, Roll Call and a number of blogs.

The response we received seems to me to validate our belief that the way to win new collectors and reignite the passion of folks who previously collected as children is to simply get stamps back in their hands. We hope this idea can be duplicated and perhaps implemented in other ways--perhaps by setting up “free stamp” tables in malls, libraries and other events or places.

It was a joy to watch peoples’ reactions to the exhibit. They would pop their heads inside, look around the exhibit and then, as they walked by one of the tables of free stamps, idly pick up a stamp or two for a closer look. They would stop strolling and start looking more closely at the stamps.
Once one of our volunteers would talk to them, they would either pull up a chair or would continue to play and stay for a significant amount of time--in many cases for hours! We had attendees who got so excited that they left behind their briefcases or meeting materials. We even had a few folks who missed hearings and work-related obligations entirely due to their excitement over the stamp exhibit. 

This effort could not have happened without the help, kindness, and enthusiasm of many supporters and friends who share a love and passion for philately.

So many individuals and organizations came together to make this event effortless. I have to thank the National Postal Museum and their stellar staff, the kind donation of the Stamp Collecting 101 exhibit by an anonymous donor, the materials and time offered by the American Philatelic Society and their education department, the frames and bags from NAPEX, the stand of materials from the U.S. Postal Service, the extraordinary dedication and energy of StampCampUSA and their volunteers, the National Postal Museum Council of Philatelists volunteers, Members of the House and Senate, the
energy and hard work of Philip LoPicollo from the Smithsonian’s Government Relations Office, Frank Haught, who took a great deal of his personal time to make this a reality, and others.

I had a great deal of fun doing this and look forward to doing it again!

Bon Voyage Owney

By Nancy Pope, Historian and Curator

Owney, the postal dog already famous for his travels across the United States set out on August 19, 1895 for a trip around the world. Owney left from the Tacoma, Washington port, sailing for China and Japan and through the Suez Canal before sailing back to New York City. He left New York by train and returned to Tacoma on December 29.* Unfortunately, any tags that may have been given to Owney on the international legs of that journey have not survived. The museum does have several tags that show the dog’s connection with the Tacoma area (including several from Seattle, but since Tacoma’s boosters sent Owney on his trip to draw attention to their town, not their larger neighbor; I’ll focus on the Tacoma area tags here).

    
In preparation for his around the world trip, some citizens from Pullyup, Washington (just to the south-east of Tacoma, and on the railway line Owney traveled), gave him this tag with their names on it. Those wishing Owney good luck with this tag were Mrs. R. H. Coffman, Glen C. Elvins, F.T.C. Myers, W.F. Adams, C.A. McLaughlin, Frank McAlpin, Herman Klaber, Thomas McNeff, and Charles Hood of nearby Puyallup, Washington. The tag is dated August 14, 1895.

    
Tacoma’s hotels made Owney feel at home from time to time. These tags come from Tacoma’s Hotel Fife a five-story hotel, built in 1888, and located on the northwest corner of 9th and Pacific. William H. Fife, the hotel’s owner, was born in Ontario, Canada. He was an important figure in the early days of Tacoma, building the first general store and acting as the city’s first postmaster (1874-1882) and became one of the city’s most prosperous citizens. The Fife was torn down in 1925.


After Owney returned to Tacoma from his world-wide journey, the city’s Poultry Association gave him a tag celebrating their upcoming meeting. Given Owney’s demonstrated fondness for chasing chickens, it is hard to imagine he would have behaved himself at a poultry show. Just two years earlier Owney had rewarded a California clerk’s hospitality by chasing the family’s chickens. By the time the clerk responded to the wild cackling and squawking in his yard, Owney was found with the “finest and largest fowl of the yard” in his mouth.


*Read more about Owney’s around the world trip here.

19 Years of the National Postal Museum

By Nancy Pope, Historian and Curator

A museum’s 19th anniversary is not one usually celebrated by big parties full of balloons, cakes, and presents. But it is a nice opportunity to reflect on the past through a blog post.

On July 30, 1993, the National Postal Museum opened, offering at long last an opportunity to share more than just a few objects from the Smithsonian’s philatelic and postal history collections with the public. Over the years the museum has been host to dozens of exhibits, hundreds of public programs and events, and millions of visitors. In the late 1990s we began sharing the world of the postal museum with the even larger audience of the internet, launching our first website.

In the interests of history, I am taking this opportunity to share some images from the earliest days of the museum, when it existed only in our minds and on designer’s pads. In order to help people understand the vision of the museum’s exhibits, designers produced a variety of materials, including a large white scale model of the building and exhibits that each represented our latest thinking as exhibits developed. As you will see, a few designs were realized “as is” but many were tweaked here and there as the creation processes progressed.

Image from the white scale model of the future National Postal Museum shows a relatively accurate version of what would become the museum’s opening exhibits in the atrium “Moving the Mail” area.

Photograph taken from the same spot as the white model image shows the museum’s “Moving the Mail” atrium exhibits as they appeared in 2010.


Image from the scale model of the “Moving the Mail” atrium exhibit area as it was once envisioned. The train made the final cut, the center area that included stacks of mail did not.


A photograph from almost the same angle shows the museum’s atrium exhibits as they looked when the museum opened in 1993.


“Romance vs. Reality,” the museum’s Pony Express exhibit as originally envisioned.


“Romance vs. Reality” as it looks in 2012.


    
Aside from a name change “Philatelic Treasures” became “Philatelic Rarities” the vault door and rarities area looked the same in the design and this 1993 image.


    
While the view of the atrium changed between design and final construction, the entrance to the museum just needed a safety rail between the escalators to match up with the entrance as it looks today.