Through its commemorative stamp program, the US Post Office Department printed and circulated historical narratives on stamp. Citizens and stamp collectors noticed these images and scenes represented and wanted their heroes and regional anniversaries honored with a commemorative, because it represented a federally-sanctioned narrative.

1. Sheila A. Brennan, PhD Associate Director of Public Projects, Center for History and New Media, GMU Constructing & Circulating Historical Narratives on Stamps

2. Federal gov’t in the history biz USPOD Worlds’ Fair Commemoratives? New Deal, NPS?

3. US Post Offices for Distribution Statistics drawn from: USPS, Publication 100: The United States Postal Service - An American History 1775 – 2006 (Washington, DC, May 2007) http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub100/pub100_075.htm.

4. Stamps, miniature memorials & types of federal documents

5. John Wanamaker, Postmaster Gen

6. Columbians, 1st set of commems

8. Collectors Organizing into clubs Defining practices Encouraging others to collect Exhibiting their collections Publishing journals & newsletters 1864-1906: 900+ stamp papers published in US alone, hundreds more from around world

9. Popularity in Periodicals, Newspapers

10. Popularity, Books

11. Fairs: Conquest, Technology

12. Fairs  Anniversaries

13. What of Attucks & Douglass? Chicago Defender, May 9, 1925, A10.

14. War Heroes from Poland

15. Stamp Content Matters Chicago Defender, June 7, 1930, 14.

16. Army-Navy Series

17. Imagery & Content on Stamps Matters “Why should such men, fighting for the principle contrary to our present standard of life and liberty, be given honors in advance of an individual who gave her services freely for the cause of freedom for all of the people—men and women alike?” Letter, Sue Brobst (Business Women’s Legislative Council of CA) to Postmaster General James A. Farley, June 1, 1936. “It is absurd that these men should be commemorated when you refuse to have such a great and noble person as Susan B. Anthony commemorated.” Letter, Olive E. Hurlburt (National Women’s Party) to James A Farley, June 9, 1936.

18. Susan B. Anthony, 1936 16th Anniversary of Suffrage

19. Stamp as Political Victory

20. Maj. Richard Robert Wright

21. Booker T. Washington, 1940Famous American Series, Educator

22. Celebrating Different Images of Washington Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1940,2. Los Angeles Times, April 5, 1940, 32.

23. 75thAnniversary 13th Amendment 1940

24. Stamp used totalk about present:preparing for war.

25. Resources Proquest databases of historic newspapers & American periodicals Google Books holds many gems on collecting. Smithsonian National Postal Museum Arago, digital collections database: http://arago.si.edu Stamp design files Philatelic Journal collections My Zotero Libraries Secondary sources on collecting, generally, & stamp collecting, specifically: http://www.zotero.org/sheila/items/collection/76QGZMR2 Primary sources on stamp collecting: http://www.zotero.org/sheila/items/collection/VC59BKW6