Agency history, 1990-

Close
Usage Conditions Apply
The Smithsonian Institution Archives welcomes personal and educational use of its collections unless otherwise noted. For commercial uses, please contact photos@si.edu.
Print
 

Subject

  • Bretos, Miguel A
  • Bruns, James H
  • Collins, Herbert Ridgeway 1932-
  • Kane, Allen
  • Gruber, Elliot
  • Baird, Spencer Fullerton 1823-1887
  • United States Postal Service
  • National Museum of American History (U.S.) National Philatelic Collection

Category

Agency History

Notes

  • This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
  • From Dream to Delivery, Washington Post, August 13, 1993
  • Washington Post, February 20, 2002
  • National Postal Museum, National Postal Museum Funding [http://www.si.edu.postal/generalinfor/funding.html], 02/01/2000
  • Smithsonian Institution Archives, Smithsonian History, National Postal Museum, https://siarchives.si.edu/history/national-postal-museum, accessed October 26, 2022
  • National Postal Museum, About, History of the Museum, https://postalmuseum.si.edu/history-of-the-smithsonian-national-postal-museum, accessed October 26, 2022
  • The National Postal Museum showcases one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of stamps and philatelic materials in the world. The museum grew out of the National Philatelic Collection, which was established at the Smithsonian Institution in 1886 with the donation of a sheet of 10-cent Confederate postage stamps. In 1888, the Smithsonian's original museum, the United States National Museum, received 1,733 foreign postage stamps collected by second Smithsonian Secretary Spencer Fullerton Baird from his voluminous personal correspondence. Generous gifts from individuals and foreign governments, transfers from government agencies, and occasional purchases increased the collection to today's total of close to six million items.
  • From 1908 until 1963, the collection was housed in the Arts and Industries Building, where it was a very popular display. In 1964, the collection moved to the new National Museum of History and Technology, now the National Museum of American History. There the collection expanded to include postal history and stamp production. In 1971, the museum opened a reconstructed general store and post office from Headsville, West Virginia, that served as a working post office.
  • The museum was established in 1990 under an agreement between the Smithsonian and the United States Postal Service. The museum moved to its new location, the lower level of the former Washington City Post Office Building on Capitol Hill, in 1993. Ten thousand people visited the National Postal Museum on opening weekend, July 30-31, 1993, and four new stamps were issued for the occasion. Originally part of the National Museum of American History, in 1997, the museum was given full status as an independent national museum within the Smithsonian.
  • In addition to stamps, the museum also collects postal stationary, postal history material that pre-dates stamps, vehicles used to transport the mail, mailboxes, meters, greeting cards, covers, and letters. Curators at the museum research the history of the American postal system and collect American postage, special stamp editions of famous individuals or subjects, postal stationery, Post Office equipment and uniforms, and foreign stamps primarily for what they show about American history.
  • Herbert Ridgeway Collins served as the first Director of the National Postal Museum, 1990-1991, and was succeeded by James H. Bruns, Deputy Director, 1990, and Director, 1991-2001. Miguel A. Bretos was Acting Director, February 2001-February 2002. Allen Kane succeeded him, serving February 2002-2017. After Kane retired, Elliot Gruber became director in September 2017- .

Repository Loc.

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520

Date

  • 1990
  • 1990-

Topic

  • Postage stamps
  • Postal service
  • Postal museums
  • History
  • Stamp collecting
  • Postal service--History

Form/Genre

Mixed archival materials

Local number

SIA AH00134

Full Record

View Full Record