[press release]
Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum Director Allen Kane to Retire

Allen Kane, Director of the National Postal Museum (NPM) will be retiring in January 2017.  Allen became director of the NPM in 2002 after serving more than 30 years with the United States Postal Service (USPS) in a variety of senior leadership positions.  At the USPS, one of the accomplishments of which Allen is proudest was his management of the Gulf War Crisis Team, which ensured the successful delivery of 2.5 million pounds of mail per day to US troops.

In his fourteen-year tenure at the Postal Museum, Allen has overseen many remarkable exhibitions and public programs while also making the museum a world-renowned research resource.  His most notable accomplishment was the development and opening of the William H. Gross Gallery in 2013, which doubled the size of the Museum and made the NPM the largest center for philately in the world.  During his tenure, the NPM exhibited many rarely seen and internationally famous stamps, as well as important collections such as the Benjamin Miller Collection and the Royal Collection of Queen Elizabeth II.  He arranged for the long term loan of the U.S. Postmaster General’s collection and for the acquisition of the world’s rarest stamp, the British Guiana 1-Cent Magenta. The award-winning collections website Arago made its debut during Allen’s tenure, providing unprecedented access to the philately and postal history collections of the Museum and encouraging expert involvement in their curation. The NPM built on that participatory model in developing website features for acquiring oral histories of postal workers and for documenting the incredibly broad and robust mailing industry. Allen strongly encouraged research and educational programs with sister Smithsonian museums, readily welcomed school groups, initiated the building of the Byrne educational loft, and began the Maynard Sundman lecture series.

Most recently, Kane led a major research effort to tell the story of “America’s Mailing Industry,” partnering with mailing industry associations, the U.S. Postal Service and hundreds of companies in the industry. The research project launched as a virtual exhibition and will also include a physical exhibition at the museum in Washington, D.C.

Kane’s ability to run a cost-effective operation utilizing a large number of volunteers to supplement a small staff resulted in enormous progress for the museum, including unprecedented brand image and public relations outreach.

About the National Postal Museum:
The National Postal Museum is devoted to presenting the colorful and engaging history of the nation’s mail service and showcasing one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of stamps and philatelic material in the world. It is located at 2 Massachusetts Avenue N.E., Washington, D.C., across from Union Station. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). For more information about the Smithsonian, please call (202) 633-1000 or visit the museum website at www.postalmuseum.si.edu.

The job posting for the position is here.

From the Smithsonian National Postal Museum:

The National Postal Museum offers a series of public lectures and programs welcoming the National Museum of African American History and Culture to the Smithsonian family! In keeping with the new museum’s location in one of America’s most famous national parks—the National Mall—these programs will feature park rangers and other speakers spotlighting National Park Service sites associated with African American history. Many of these NPS sites are also featured in the National Postal Museum’s current exhibition Trailblazing: 100 Years of Our National Parks, on view until March 25, 2018.

Lunchtime Lecture
September 21, 2016 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join National Park Service Ranger Nathan Johnson for a discussion of the life and home of Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist, human rights advocate and journalist who was one of the most prominent African Americans of the 19th century. Ranger Johnson works at Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Anacostia, Douglass’s residence at the time of his death in 1895.

Evening Program
September 22, 2016 | 6:30 – 8:00 pm
“African American Visionaries and the Mail”
A panel explores the ways that Maggie L. Walker, Booker T. Washington, and George Washington Carver used the mail system to advance their educational and business initiatives. Discussants will be Ajena C. Rogers, Supervisory Park Ranger at Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site in Richmond, Virginia; April Baldwin, Park Guide at Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site in Tuskegee, Alabama; and Susan N. Smith, Winton M. Blount Research Chair at the National Postal Museum.

For more information, visit: http://postalmuseum.si.edu

According to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Daniel Piazza (right), chief curator of philately, and Calvin Mitchell (left), assistant curator of philately, are the recipients of the 2016 Smithsonian Secretary’s Research Prizes for their exhibit and catalog, “Freedom Just Around the Corner: Black America from Civil War to Civil Rights.”

The awards ceremony will take place Wednesday, Sept. 14, in the Warner Bros. Theater at the National Museum of American History from 8:30 to 10:15 a.m.

The prizes include a $2,000 award to be added to the prize winner’s research account. The work submitted by the recipients of the Secretary’s Research Prizes underwent peer review and the finalists were recommended by a committee representing research areas across the spectrum of Smithsonian scholarship.

Stamp designer Michael Osborne will be the featured speaker at the American Philatelic Society’s Tiffany Dinner, which will be held on the first evening of APS StampShow, Thursday evening, August 4th, in Portland, Oregon.

The Dinner this year is sponsored by H.R. Harmer Inc.

Osborne is President and Creative Director of the Palo Alto-based Michael Osborne Design. Established in 1981, the firm’s work in private label and brand package design has garnered awards from all major competitions, and has been recognized by many industry publications including a feature article in Communication Arts, 2011. Osborne’s work is included in the permanent collections of the SFMOMA, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.

He designed the 2002 and 2004 Love stamps, the 2006 Wedding stamp set, the 2007 Patriotic Banner and the Spectrum Eagle stamps for the USPS, and in April, 2015 his stamp set “From Me To You” was released.

He has been a featured speaker at numerous design conferences, schools, and universities. Michael received his undergraduate degree at Art Center College of Design, 1978, and his MFA at the Academy of Art University, 2007, where he has taught advanced Package Design since 1991. In the summer of 2006 Michael was the recipient of the prestigious AIGA Fellow Award.

Tickets for the Tiffany Dinner are available here.

Here’s Michael Osborne at the first-day ceremony for his Love Stamp designs at APS StampShow 2002 in Atlantic City, NJ:

[press release]
The American Philatelic Society has conferred the annual Nicholas G. Carter Volunteer Recognition Awards. The awards are named for the APS president from 2007-2008 who helped create the awards. They are offered in four different categories: national, local, young adult and youth. All but the youth award require a minimum of five years of service to philately. [These awards will be presented at the General Membership Meeting, Saturday morning August 6th at StampShow in Portland, Oregon. – VSC]

National Promotion/Service

Don Chenevert joined the APS in 2003 and subsequently the society has welcomed three more of his family members: his father in 2007, his oldest son in 2009, and his daughter in 2013. Don has strongly served philately by chairing the Young Philatelic Leader Fellowship Advisory Board from 2010 through 2015, serving as an instructor of the Basic Stamp Collecting course of StampCampus since 2011, assisting with Stamp Collecting 101 workshops at APS stamp shows, and serving on the APS Membership Committee.

Joe Crosby has served as chair of the Okpex World Series of Philately show since 1997. He has competitively shown at least six different exhibits and had several articles published in the Chronicle of US Philatelic Classics, for which he has served as “Bank Note Period” editor. He has served on the board of the United States Philatelic Classics Society and as its fundraising committee chair. Joe helped establish the Classics Society Room at the American Philatelic Center.

Terry Dempsey joined the APS Membership Committee in 2011 and quickly agreed to serve as vice chair. Terry succeeded Steven Rod as committee chair and served in this position until August 2015, although he remains as a member of the committee. Under Terry’s leadership, a series of “Membership Matter” articles was begun in The American Philatelist. The Membership Committee also began providing biannual reports to the APS Board of Directors and at the general meeting for the APS winter and summer shows.

Kathy Johnson joined the APS as a junior member in 1976. She served as head of the British Commonwealth Study Group of the Junior Philatelists of America and served as president of the JPA during 1981 and 1982. She exhibited Victorian-era Ceylon and wrote a monthly column, “The Junior Philatelist” for The American Philatelist.

After a nearly 30-year hiatus from the hobby for career and family, Kathy attended the Women Exhibitors Seminar at the American Philatelic Center in 2009. Shortly thereafter, she returned for the Summer Seminar and volunteered to serve on the Membership and Long Range Planning committees. In November 2009, she was selected by the board to fill a vacancy for director at large. She them moved on to a full elected term as APS treasurer.

At the same time, Kathy became involved with the Chicago Philatelic Society and the Collectors Club of Chicago, doing extensive volunteer work for both organizations. Subsequently, she has become an accredited judge and recently captained the winning team in the competition at AmeriStamp Expo.

Denise Stotts joined the APS in 1990 by which time she already had a strong record of service to the hobby. In the 1980s she made a name for herself in Ohio serving the Euclid Stamp Club Show for 10 years and the Garfield Perry Stamp Club and Ohio Postal History Society before relocating to Houston, Texas. Despite her move to Texas she remains secretary of the Ohio Postal History Society and an active member of the Garfield Perry March Party Committee nearly 25 years later.

She no sooner arrived in Texas than she became a board member for the Houston Philatelic Society in 1993 and the following year began more than 20 years of service as show chair for the Greater Houston Stamp Expo. In 2000, she became awards director for the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors. In 2004, she assumed the same position for the United States Stamp Society and also became awards director for the Women Exhibitors in 2009.

Denise served as assistant director for volunteers for Washington 2006 and bin room coordinator for New York 2016. Here APS service includes membership on the Chapter Activities, Ethics and Election Review committees, the local committee chair for AmeriStamp Expo 1998, the Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship Advisory Board, and Director-at-Large from 2007 through 2011.

Local Promotion/Service

Mark Butterline is the executive director of the Boston 2026 World Stamp Show. He is president of the Northeastern Federation of Stamp Clubs and the assistant chairman of Philatelic Show (WSP show in Boxborough, Massachusetts). He is a past president of the Pitcairn Islands Study Group and a member of the Waltham Stamp Club, and the Philatelic Group of Boston. He also was in charge of volunteers for the recent World Stamp Show-New York 2016

Richard Colberg has served as treasurer of the Pennsylvania Postal History Society for the last nine years. Dick is the resident philatelic scholar for the Philatelic Society of Lancaster County. He is involved with the club’s annual show, Lancopex, including the main handling of the exhibit frames and exhibit mounting. He also did the same for the 2012 National Topical Stamp Show held in Lancaster. Dick has been president of the Lebanon Stamp Club for more than 20 years. Finally, we are grateful that Volunteer Week at the APS is on Dick’s calendar every summer.

Edie and Dale Eggen have served as society liaisons, meeting coordinators, and coordinate docent tours at Westpex for many years. There, volunteer service to the show was recognized with the Mae and Frank Vignola Service Award in 2009.

A member of at least a dozen stamp clubs, Glenn Estus has been particularly active in the Empire State Postal History Society and the Vermont Philatelic Society, for which he has served as president and webmaster. He was part of the organizing committee for Stamp Expo 400 held in Albany, New York, serves as auction manager for Sports Philatelists International and is active in stamp collecting message boards.

Vince King, serves as president of the Texas Postal History Society, and is the 2nd Vice President of the Texas Philatelic Association. As a member of the Collectors Club of Dallas, he served as the awards chairman and bourse chairman of Texpex. He was awarded the Texas Philatelic Association’s “2011 Distinguished Philatelic Texan” award for service and achievements in the field.

In more than 30 years of work, Bruce Roberts has influenced hundreds of collectors and has contributed dramatically to the growth and continuance of the hobby in Knoxville and throughout the Southeast. In 1980, Bruce was one of the founding members of the Expo City Stamp club in Knoxville, later named the Knoxville Philatelic Society. He has continued as a member for more than 25 years, and is one of only two founding members still in the club. Bruce served as president of KPS in 2005, exhibits chair for Knoxpex 2005, and bourse chair for more than 25 stamp shows in Knoxville and Oak Ridge between 1981 and 2003. He has served as exhibits chair for the Southeast Stamp Show several times.

Bruce also is an accomplished philatelist and philatelic researcher. He has published a number of articles in the national philatelic press, including, The Chronicle of the US Classics Society, The Confederate Philatelist, The Philatelic Exhibitor, The Ohio Postal History Journal and Tennessee Posts, the Journal of the Tennessee Postal History Society. Bruce is unquestionably the authority on the postal history of Arkansas, including pre-statehood. He began exhibiting his Arkansas Postal History exhibit at the local club level throughout the southeast more than three decades ago and has since won multiple WSP grand awards.

A specialist in New Jersey postal history, Robert G. Rose serves as president of the New Jersey Postal History Society and editor of its journal. He is chairman of the Philatelic Foundation, a regional vice president of the United States Philatelic Classics Society and chairman and board member of Nojex. He has lectured on various aspects of New Jersey postal history at The Collectors Club, the New York chapter of the U. S. Philatelic Classics Society, Stamp Show 2002, and Nojex.

Robert Stahl is a retired postal employee who has been a valuable contributor to the St. Louis Stamp Expo since 2006. He teaches children about the history of the post office and the history of stamps. Outside of the St. Louis Stamp Expo he talks to many grade school classes and Wee Deliver clubs that still exist. He has also runs many stamp design contests for youth.

Maurice D. Wozniak has collected stamps since the mid-1950s. Following a career that included serving as editor of Stamp Collector and The Stamp Wholesaler, Wozniak became a valuable volunteer at the local level including service as president of the Wisconsin Federation of Stamp Clubs. He was elected to its Hall of Fame in 2009 and continues to remain active currently serving as the Federation’s Northeast vice president and chair of the Hall of Fame Committee.

Outstanding Young Adult Philatelist (ages 25 to 40)

James Weigant has been a stamp collector since 1991 and an APS member since 2004. His primary collecting interests are 1898-1950 US commemoratives, 4th Bureau issues, U.S. airmail, and Osage County, Oklahoma postal history. He is a member of the Oklahoma Postal History Society, Tulsa Stamp Club, and the Petroleum Philatelic Society International. He has performed a number of projects for the APS membership committee, including reviewing all APS affiliate websites to see if they include the APS logo, and/or links to the APS website, and making phone calls to new members to see if they have any questions. James also serves as a stamp collecting merit badge counselor for the Boy Scouts.

James attended his first APS StampShow in 2011 and subsequently joined the YPLF Advisory Board. In 2014, he and three other young collectors came up with the concept of the Young Friends of the APS, for APS members between ages 20 and 50. He now serves as informal chief organizer for the group which has met at the last three APS summer and winter shows. James exhibited for the first time at Okpex 2014 and has written a few philatelic articles.

Outstanding Young Philatelist (ages 15 to 24)

In 2010, at age 13, Casey Cook became a member of the Young Stamp Collectors of America. Two years later, he was accepted as a Young Philatelic Leader Fellow. Following his year as a fellow, Casey joined the YPLF Advisory Board as alumni coordinator. Casey has continued to attend most of the APS summer and winter shows where he has served as a mentor for YPLF fellows and provided volunteer assistance. He assists with the YPLF Facebook page and blog and has written for the newsletter for YPLF supporters. He also wrote a paper on the U.S. banknotes for school.

[press release]
This year’s winner of the Charles J. Peterson Philatelic Literature Life Achievement Award is Charles A. Fricke. An APS member since 1954, Fricke has conducted research and authored seminal works on the first postal card issues of the United States culminating in the publication of his book, 1973 Centennial Handbook of the First Issue United States Postal Card 1873-1875. Volume 1 was subtitled, A Complete Plating of the 72 Subject Plates with a Special Appendix Devoted to Family Tree of Proofs. A companion Volume 2 also was published by the UPSS the same year with the subtitle, A Contemporary Account of the First United States Postal Card 1870–1875. In this work, he presents chronologically contemporary newspaper clippings, correspondence, official records, patents, and other files of the period as well as examples of its life, uses, and postal history.

Fricke devoted many years to this research. His detailed study of the subject plates and master die proofs resulted in renumbering all the proofs (normal, trial color and trial color card proofs) listed by Brazer in the Essay Proof Journal. In 1973, the UPSS published Fricke’s first supplement to Volume 1 of the handbook, Subject Plate Form Assignment (Matrix) describing which of the 36 subject plates were mounted in each of the two forms based on his study of hundreds of proofs and plate flaws.

In 1974, Fricke authored a similar study on the international postal card, The United States International Single Postal Cards of 1879 to 1897–1898, Volume 1: Plating. In this work he reported his further research on the international card and proved that the same 40 subject plates were used for all three issues. He was co-editor of United States Multiple Advertising and Discount Postal Cards (1987, revised 2007). In addition, he contributed to the early editions of the standard reference work, United States Postal Card Catalog.

Over many years Fricke has authored more than 1,000 articles that have appeared in many journals. These items focus on some aspect of postal card or postcard use including rates, auxiliary markings, routes, cancellations, interesting points of origin or destination, varieties, advertising cards, first day items, novelty cards, paid reply cards, earliest known use, and other stationery items like stamped envelopes and wrappers, as well as many divergent subjects in the field of philately.

These articles have appeared in more than 35 philatelic journals and publications and five newspapers, including Linn’s Stamp News, Pennsylvania Postal Historian, Stamp Collector, The American Philatelist, U.S. Stamp News, U.S. Stamps & Postal History, Scott Stamp Monthly, Postal Stationery, Airpost Journal, Philatelic Freemason, The Seebecker, American Philatelic Congress Book, New Jersey Postal History, North Carolina Postal History Society Newsletter, Collectors Club Philatelist, S.P.A. Journal, Chesstamp Review, and Mekeel’s & Stamps among others. He currently has more than 200 articles that have been accepted but not yet published.

Charles planned and copyrighted the 1997 unpublished work, The Wide-Wide-World of Postal Stationery: An Encyclopedia of Collectibles. This was a 380 35mm slide presentation with accompanying text describing nearly 850 items. The program illustrated outstanding examples, types, and varieties of world postal stationery — an originally conceived introduction to collecting postal stationery.

He also planned and copyrighted the 1998 unpublished compilation of examples of postcards with descriptions, Deltiology and Philately in the Early 1900s: A Marriage of Collectibles.

The award is named in honor of two-time John N. Luff award recipient Charlie Peterson, who set high standards in journal quality as editor of the APRL’s Philatelic Literature Review and the United States Philatelic Classics Society’s Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues. His efforts with FIP and APS brought about the concepts of competitive literature exhibitions, and he served both nationally and internationally as a philatelic literature judge. He compiled indices for several major journals and generously mentored authors and editors throughout his career. Charlie Peterson served as president of the Writers Unit 30, the FIP philatelic literature commission, and the APRL.

[APS/APRL press release]
United States Stamp Society Barbara R. Mueller Award for Best Article in The American Philatelist (for the year 2015):

This year’s winner is Jafar H. Siddiqui for Indian Postal Stationery Overprinted for Use in Pakistan, published in the July issue of the journal.

Jafar H. “Jeff” Siddiqui has been a stamp collector since age 6 and joined the APS in 1983. His main focus includes the stamps, covers, and postal stationery of British India and Pakistan. He is the originator of Pakphil, a free newsletter on Pakistan philately published by the Pakistan Study Circle, United Kingdom. His article chronicled the use of Indian postal stationery provided for use by postal patrons in Pakistan until the availability of the first official overprinted stamps in October 1947.

The award is named for the United States Stamp Society and for one of its most prominent members, authors, and editors, Barbara R. Mueller. Among her many other honors in six decades of devotion to philately, Mueller is a member of the Hall of Fame of both the United States Stamp Society and APS Writers Unit 30. She was the recipient of the APS John N. Luff Award for Distinguished Philatelic Research in 1956.

Thomas F. Allen Award for the best article published in a single year of The Philatelic Literature Review (for the year 2015)

This year’s winner is Brian Birch for his article, “Who Really Founded the American Philatelic Society, Theodore F. Cuno or Schuyler B. Bradt?”

Brian’s interest in stamps was sparked at the age of 9 when their father gave his two sons stamp albums and a small packet of stamps. With two worldwide collectors in the same household, change was inevitable in order to avoid conflict. It was agreed that Brian should collect Commonwealth and his brother, David, European stamps, and that they would collaborate on the rest of the world.

Following some training in information science at the British Library, Brian transferred his interest to the literature of philately and the stamp collection was abandoned. With no collection to support, the standard monographs and handbooks held little interest for him and he chose to specialize in philatelic bibliography and the history of philately, its literature and its adherents. This change in direction led him to begin a number of bibliographies which expanded to a greater extent than expected and became substantial books. Although he spent a great deal of time in compiling some of these over the past 30 or so years, it was evident that their scope was such that they would never be finished and so could never be conventionally published. Accordingly, they have all been placed on the FIP literature Commission website and are updated each year. The site, fipliterature.org, currently holds more than 6,500 pages of Brian’s freely available bibliographic and biographical research.

Brian joined the American Philatelic Society and American Philatelic Research Library in 1976, subsequently becoming a Patron and Life Member of the latter. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London (1981) and a member of the Collectors Club of New York (1983). Although he had always published the occasional article, retirement gave him the time to at least begin to catch up on all of the projects that had been started and then laid aside for lack of time.

His article in the 1st Quarter 2015 issue of the Philatelic Literature Review titled “Who Really Founded the American Philatelic Society, Theodore F. Cuno or Schuyler B. Bradt?” epitomizes the kind of in-depth research and inquiry that the PLR aims to encourage, and the detailed endnotes provide a solid basis for future scholarship.

The award is named for Allen, who was the editor and co-author of the book, 19th Century Cleveland Ohio Postal Markings, and received an international gold medal for his Cleveland postal markings exhibit. Past president of the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society and an editor of its publication, Allen served as president, secretary and treasurer for the Garfield Perry Stamp Club and was actively involved in the club’s annual March Party show.

I have had the privilege of knowing all these people personally, and I think it’s one of the best “classes” for the American Philatelic Society’s and philately’s highest award. Here’s the APS press release:

2016 Luff Awards to Ganz, Harris and DeBlois, and Gilson

The recipients of this year’s prestigious Luff Awards from the American Philatelic Society are Cheryl R. Ganz, Robert Dalton Harris and Diane DeBlois, and Dennis Gilson. The awards are given for meritorious contributions by living philatelists and are given annually at StampShow, which will be held this year in Portland, Oregon.

The awards are named after John N. Luff, who was president of the APS from 1907 to 1909. Here is a look at this year’s honorees:

Cheryl R. Ganz is the 2016 recipient of the Luff Award for Exceptional Contributions to Philately.

A 40-year member of the APS, Ganz is a Smithsonian Institution curator emerita following her retirement as the chief curator of philately at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and as lead curator of the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery, the world’s largest postage stamp gallery. She currently serves as vice-chair on the U.S. Postal Service’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, which selects subjects and approves designs for U.S. postage stamps. She has served the APS as a literature judge and on its Ethics Committee and has served as a board member of the Napex show.

Cheryl has held many positions over the years in Chicagoland philately and aerophilately. She was president of the Chicago Air Mail Society (1984–85) as well as a board member (1982–91). She was literature chair for Ameripex ‘86, editor of the Chicago Philatelic Society News-Bulletin (1983–90), board member of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors (1986–90), board member of the Chicago Philatelic Society (1988–91), former literature judge of the APS, literature exhibits chair of Chicagopex for many years, awards committee chair for the American Air Mail Society (1988–92), president of the American Air Mail Society (1992–93), and editor of The Zeppelin Collector. From 1994 to 1997, she was a board member of the Federation Internationale des Societes Aerophilateliques.

Cheryl’s exhibits, research, writing, and speaking engagements often focus on her specialty of zeppelin posts and memorabilia worldwide, especially from U.S. airships, the 1933 Graf Zeppelin Chicago flight, and the Hindenburg. She was the first exhibitor to win a World Series of Philately grand award for a Display Division exhibit. She edited The Zeppelin Collector for 37 years and has been a contributor to the Michel Zeppelin specialized catalog. Her lifelong philatelic outreach at local, national, and international levels engages a vast spectrum of collectors from specialists to new audiences.

Cheryl has given talks, seminars, and presentations at many philatelic venues, including the Collectors Club of New York, the Royal Philatelic Society London, and the Blount Postal History Symposia. She has served as a role model for women in the hobby. Cheryl is a charismatic promoter of the hobby using both the written and spoken word.

Ganz earned a PhD in U.S. history from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her books include The 1933 Chicago World’s Fair: A Century of Progress; and Every Stamp Tells a Story: The National Philatelic Collection. Her national exhibit publications include Delivering Hope: FDR & Stamps of the Great Depression; Fire & Ice: Hindenburg and Titanic; and Favorite Finds; Pacific Exchange: China & U.S. Mail.

Her more than 100 articles have appeared in the Jack Knight Air Log, German Postal Specialist, COMPEX Directory, The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues, The American Philatelist, Washington City Despatch, Collectors Club Philatelist, Airpost Journal, Tell, Netherlands Philately, The Philatelic Exhibitor, and New Jersey Postal History, and other publications.

Previous philatelic awards include the Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately, Mortimer L. Neinken Medal, Carlrichard Brühl Medal, Wisconsin Philatelic Hall of Fame, AAMS Aerophilatelic Research Award, Lee Medal, Nicholas Carter National Service Award, Distinguished Philatelist Award, Elizabeth C. Pope Lifetime Achievement Award, FISA Gold Medal, Canadian Aerophilatelic Society Award, AAMS Presidents Award, Earl & Fred Wellman Literature Award, Gus Lancaster Award, George W. Angers Award, Chris Hunt Award, and Newberry Award for service to Chicagoland philately, and U.S. Philatelic Classics Society Distinguished Philatelist.

Robert Dalton Harris and Diane DeBlois are the 2016 Luff Award winners for Distinguished Philatelic Research.

Robert Dalton Harris joined the American Philatelic Society in 1966 while in graduate school, and started a stamp club there. His first philatelic research article on the first postal card was published in Stamps in 1968. He became a full-time dealer in postal history and ephemera in 1973. When Diane DeBlois joined Robert in 1979 as a writer and editor in other fields, she was most keen to have him restart the house publication of aGatherin’ — P.S. A Quarterly Journal of Postal History — and she took over as editor with Volume II in 1980. Her first major research article was on the Collins Overland Telegraph. This research journal continued more than 60 issues to 1993. In 2000, DeBlois and Harris accepted the editorship of the Postal History Journal, for which they won the American Philatelic Congress’s Diane D. Boehret Awards in 2004 and 2014. The couple, separately and together, have written on a broad range of subjects for other philatelic and collecting periodicals, and are both in the Philatelic Writers Hall of Fame.

As a team, DeBlois and Harris have engaged in long-term postal history research projects and expanded the field. The first catalog of aGatherin’ in 1975 was called “Ephemera” and they continued to emphasize the interplay of these documents of everyday life with postal history. They particularly focus on sourcing postal history from government reports.

They have taught six different courses on postal history at the American Philatelic Society’s Summer Seminar. They have also made joint presentations at the Postal History Symposia, co-sponsored by the American Philatelic Research Library and the Smithsonian National Postal Museum (as well as co-writing the follow-up papers):

“The Gold Mine of Official Register Data” (2006); “1845 Cultural Nexus in Transportation and Communication” (2007); “Morse Code V for Victory: Morale through the Mail in WWII” (2008); “The Sunday Mail Controversy Paves the Way for Postal Reform” (2009); “Hermes: Message and Messenger” (2010); “It’s in the Bag — The Shape of Turn-of-the-Century Mail” (2011); “Balancing the Books: Newspapers & the Postal Business of the Confederacy” (2012); and “Newspapers in the Mail: Strategic Postal Unification of the British American Colonies” (2016).

Robert and Diane presented “Modeling Postal History with Postal Numbers” for the Second International Symposium on Analytical Methods in Philately, Chicago.

Joint papers on postal history issues outside of the reach of the hobby have included: “Early Network Theory & Practice in U.S. Postal Rates” at the Business History Conference, Le Creusot, France; “The Pre-Victorian Internet: Economic, Physical Measures & Principles of the United States Postal System in the 19th Century” (2006) at the International Economic History Congress, Helsinki, Finland; “Special Post Offices; Local Economies & the Postal Network of the United States to 1860” (2012) at the World Economic History Congress, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

From 1999 to 2010, Diane served as director of the Ephemera Society of America for which she has also served as annual conference chair since 2005. From 2007 to 2012, Robert and Diane served on the research sub-committee of the Museum Advisory Council of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

Robert and Diane have a long-standing habit of exposing nonphilatelic collectors to our hobby, particularly through the Ephemera Society of America. The emphemera society’s highest award, the Maurice Rickards Award, is shared for their continuing efforts of promoting understanding of the historical and cross-disciplinary importance of our objects through well-researched, readily accessible, writings. Robert has also won with Diane the 2008 the American Philatelic Congress’s C. Corwith Wagner Award (1995), as well as the 2008 Jere Hess Barr Award.

Dennis Gilson is the 2016 Luff Award winner for Outstanding Service to the American Philatelic Society.

Dennis started collecting worldwide and U.S. stamps when he was about 10 years old, stopped after high school for 12 years, and then resumed the hobby at age 30. He has been a member of the American Philatelic Society since January 1977 and also is a member of the American First Day Cover Society, the American Topical Association, the United States Stamp Society and his local stamp club, the Mount Nittany Philatelic Society, of which he is the treasurer.

After successful military and post-military careers, Dennis moved to State College, Pennsylvania, in July 2000 to become the project manager for the Match Factory renovation project. After completing Phases 1 and 2 of the Match Factory project and overseeing the move of the American Philatelic Society and American Philatelic Research Library to Bellefonte in May 2004, Dennis retired fully in January 2005 and became a volunteer for the APS and APRL.

Since 2001, Dennis has been a member of the American Philatelic Expertizing Service (APEX) Expert Committee. His area of expertise is primarily the U.S. Washington-Franklin issues of 1908-1922. Dennis recently completed a nearly two-year project to enable more than 54,000 APEX certificates to be placed in the APEX Certificate Archive on the APS website. These certificates are those with digital images, starting in late 2003 until the new APEX programming software became operational in mid-2014. All new certificates since that time are automatically added to the archive.

Since 2005, Dennis has taught the four-day APS Summer Seminar course on the Washington-Franklins ( which he developed) seven times, most recently this past summer. He also has taken it on-the-road as a two-day course to San Francisco (Westpex in 2008), Washington, D.C. (Napex in 2010), and Minneapolis (Minnesota Stamp Expo in 2011).

Dennis currently spends three days a week at the American Philatelic Center, much of that time providing philatelic and scanning support to the Internet Sales Unit. He also proofreads The American Philatelist journal and provides support to other departments as needed. In addition to expertizing, teaching and other volunteer tasks, Dennis participates in an online stamp forum and has represented the APS at many stamp shows throughout the country. Dennis is especially proud to have received a Century Award Plaque for sponsoring more than 100 new APS members.

[press release]
National Postal Museum Announces Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award Recipients
Cheryl R. Ganz, William H. Gross, Richard H. Winter Honored

The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum today announced the 2016 Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award recipients, Cheryl R. Ganz, William H. Gross and Richard H. Winter. They will be honored at a museum-hosted gala event in Washington, D.C., Oct. 22.

The Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award (SPAA) was established in 2002 to honor and celebrate living individuals for outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of philately. This achievement may include original research that significantly advances the understanding of philately, exceptional service to the philatelic community or sustained promotion of philately to the benefit of current and future collectors.

The SPAA medallion is a three-inch, gold-plated bronze disc depicting a sunburst with eight straight and eight wavy rays. Derived from the family coat of arms of James Smithson, founding benefactor of the Smithsonian Institution, the sunburst became the Institution’s official seal June 3, 1966, and is incorporated into the official flag flown by Smithsonian facilities and Smithsonian-sponsored expeditions throughout the world. As such, it is a universally recognized symbol of enlightenment and learning that links the Smithsonian’s history with its future. The medallion is suspended from a grosgrain neck ribbon in Smithsonian blue and yellow.

“There are millions of stamp collectors in the world, and many of them work to support the hobby,” said Allen Kane, museum director. “But the three people we are honoring with these lifetime achievement awards have had a profound impact on the field of philately in significant ways over long periods of time.”

About the recipients:
Cheryl R. Ganz, Ph.D., FRPSL (born 1950) is an internationally known philatelic expert, author, exhibitor and researcher specializing in aerophilately and zeppelin mail. In 2002, her acclaimed “Come Take a Ride on the Hindenburg” became the first display-class exhibit to win a World Series of Philately grand award. In addition to collecting and exhibiting with distinction, Ganz was an accredited literature judge who led efforts to standardize literature exhibiting and judging. She was the youngest member of the Ameripex ʼ86 organizing committee, a founding director of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors and was president of the American Air Mail Society (AAMS). She edited The Zeppelin Collector newsletter for 36 years.

She joined the staff of the National Postal Museum after earning a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago and became chief curator of philately in February 2008. Ganz curated an impressive array of exhibitions and brought the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery to life, selecting many of the 20,000 philatelic items on display. In 2014, she edited a volume about the National Philatelic Collection titled Every Stamp Tells a Story: The National Philatelic Collection.

Upon her retirement in 2014, Linn’s Stamp News credited Ganz with “reshaping the public’s view of stamp collecting.” In recognition of “significant and lasting contributions” to the museum, the Smithsonian granted her emerita status. Ganz is vice-chair of the U.S. Postal Service’s Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee. Her previous awards include the AAMS Aerophilatelic Hall of Fame, Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Aérophilatéliques Gold Medal, Mortimer L. Neinken Medal, Alfred Lichtenstein Award, Carlrichard Bruehl Medal, Elizabeth C. Pope Award, Saul Newberry Award and the U.S. Classics Society Distinguished Philatelist Award.

William H. “Bill” Gross (born 1944) has, over the past quarter-century, diligently assembled one of the finest collections of 19th-century U.S. stamps and postal history ever formed. His renowned exhibits have scored a virtually unprecedented 98 points at two separate Fédération Internationale de Philatélie-accredited shows and won the Grand Prix National at the Washington 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition. He has also built world-class stamp collections of Hawaii, Switzerland, Great Britain, France and Colonies, Scandinavia and British North America. Gross received the Collectors Club of New York’s Alfred F. Lichtenstein Award in 2011.

Almost unique among high-profile collectors, Gross publicly shares his passion for philately. Through his numerous collecting accomplishments, trade of the Inverted Jenny plate block for the One-Cent Z-Grill, and the generosity he and his wife, Sue, have shown in donating millions from the sale of portions of his non-U.S. stamp collections to charitable causes, he has generated more positive media exposure for the hobby over the past decade than any other single collector.

Philately’s most philanthropic supporter, Gross donated the entire press run and proceeds of “William H. Gross Collection—United States Classics 1847–1869: A History of United States Stamps” to The Collectors Club and other organizations. As lead donor to the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery at the National Postal Museum, he enabled the museum’s expansion and creation of the finest permanent, public exhibition of philatelic material anywhere in the world, promoting stamps and stamp collecting to nearly 500,000 visitors each year and inspiring future collectors.

Richard F. Winter, RDP, FRPSL (born 1937) comes from a stamp-collecting family and collected France and Colonies as a youth. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1959 and served 27 years in the Navy. His years at sea led to a fascination with stampless overseas mail, the steamships that carried the mails across the Atlantic Ocean and the complexities of foreign rates and treaties. He coauthored North Atlantic Mail Sailings 1840–75 (with Walter Hubbard, published 1988) and edited United States Incoming Steamship Mail, 1847–1875 (by Theron J. Wierenga, published 2000). His magisterial two-volume study of the subject, Understanding Transatlantic Mail (published 2006–2009), received numerous national grand awards and a large gold at London 2010, a rare achievement in the philatelic literature class.

Winter edited the foreign mails section of The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues for 27 years and currently edits the North Carolina Postal Historian. He has authored more than 100 articles. His previous awards include the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society’s Elliott Perry Cup (1988), Stanley B. Ashbrook Cup (1990), Lester G. Brookman Cup (1996, 2006, 2014) and Distinguished Philatelist Award (1997). He has received the American Philatelic Society’s John N. Luff Award for Distinguished Philatelic Research (1999), the American Philatelic Research Library’s J.C.M. Cryer Research Award (2001) and the Collectors Club of New York’s Alfred F. Lichtenstein Award (2003). He signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (2008) at Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

About the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum
The National Postal Museum is devoted to presenting the colorful and engaging history of the nation’s mail service and showcasing one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of stamps and philatelic material in the world. It is located at 2 Massachusetts Ave. N.E., Washington, D.C., across from Union Station. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). For more information about the Smithsonian, call (202) 633-1000 or visit the museum website at www.postalmuseum.si.edu.

[press release]
PF to Award Neinken Medal to Dr. Peter McCann

On Saturday night, May 28, the opening weekend of NY2016, The Philatelic Foundation will award its Neinken Medal to Dr. Peter McCann for meritorious service to philately. The award will be made at a joint dinner reception with The Collectors Club which will present its Lichtenstein Award to Dr. Cheryl Ganz.

Dr. McCann is known as an ambassador to the philatelic community through his tireless commitment to advance the interests of organized philately. It is fitting that he was selected as Jury President for NY2016. He is a nationally accredited chief judge with the American Philatelic Society (APS) having judged over 150 exhibitions since 1986. In addition to NY2016, he has served as a judge in numerous international exhibitions. He was the APS delegate to the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie from 1997 to 2005, and is currently completing his final term as a Board Member of the F.I.P., a position he has held since 2004. As a collector, he has won national grand awards with three different exhibits from his British Caribbean collections.

In addition to his work as a judge and exhibitor, Dr. McCann has held numerous positions within the APS, including the positions of Vice President and ultimately, President for two terms until 2003 after which he continued to serve on its board. He also served as the Co-Chairman of the Council of Philatelists of the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. He is currently a Trustee of The Philatelic Foundation.

Over the years, Dr. McCann has been recognized by a number of organizations for his service to philately. These include being named a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London and the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada, the APS Luff Award, the AAPE Bernard Hennig Award for Excellence in Philatelic Judging, and a recipient of The Collectors Club’s Lichtenstein Award. In 2007 he signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, the penultimate honor in world philately.