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Image courtesy of Smith Group |
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William H. Gross, the founder of PIMCO and a stamp collector, has donated $10 million to the National Postal Museum to create a new 12,000-square-foot gallery that will be named in his honor. The new gallery, which will give the museum public space at the street level, is expected to open in 2013.
In addition to the financial donation, Gross will loan three extraordinary philatelic objects: A cover from the Pony Express service; a cover featuring the 10-cent George Washington stamp, dated July 2, 1847; and a block of four 1918 “Inverted Jennys.”
The new William H. Gross Gallery will house the three rarities from Gross and other great items from the National Stamp Collection. In addition, there will be space for educational exhibits, temporary exhibitions and public programs.
The expansion will also allow direct access to the museum from Massachusetts Avenue, featuring a Welcome Center for the entire museum in the historic lobby of the Postal Square Building. |
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Conceptual design of new Welcome Center and historic lobby |
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The new William H. Gross Stamp Gallery will be comprised of five unique sections, resulting in a powerful and engaging experience for museum visitors. Each area will showcase the museum’s world-class collection of philatelic and postal history objects and provide the public greater access and the Collection greater visibility.
Following are conceptual designs for the new William H. Gross Stamp Gallery. Final designs are subject to change. |
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The World of Stamps |
The World of Stamps exhibit will be the first exhibit that visitors experience when they enter the Gallery. This space will be historical, educational, entertaining, and fun, using stamps, the stories behind them, and interactive displays to tell the colorful tale of stamps in ways that will have broad appeal to experienced collectors, novices and newcomers, families, school groups, and others. |
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Gems of American Philately |
| The Gems of American Philately exhibit will display some of the most distinctive and intriguing items in the Museum’s collection. The six featured gems in this exhibit include the Inverted Jenny, Hawaiian Missionaries, 1765 Stamp Act Revenue, 1847s: America’s First Stamps, Pony Express Mail, and Moon Mail. |
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Connect with U.S. Stamps Exhibit |
| The Connect with U.S. Stamps exhibit will help visitors make connections between modern stamps—those produced since 1947—and their own lives. This innovative, technologically advanced exhibit will consist of a large touch-screen table that serves as a portal into a comprehensive digitized collection of modern stamps while connecting stamps to their historical context. Visitors can search for stamps printed in the year they were born or on other significant dates, or they might look at stamps linked to a particular historical theme or event, such the Civil Rights Movement or the Vietnam War. |
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National Stamp Salon |
The National Stamp Salon will give the public greater access and the Collection greater visibility than is possible in its current location in a small room on the lower level of the Museum. With its 5,000 mounted objects, classic and rare stamps, essays, proofs, mail, revenues, and other items, the Collection is a vital national resource, chronicling the first hundred years of U.S. postage stamps and postal history, and representing the best of the Museum’s U.S. collection.
The Salon will also have displays and rotating exhibits of other important collections, such as the Museum’s unparalleled collection of Canal Zone stamps, the Postmaster General’s Collection, and the Benjamin K. Miller Collection. |
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Stamps Around the Globe |
| The Stamps Around the Globe exhibit will explore geography, ancestry, history, culture, the environment, and other global topics and themes through interpretive displays of stamps and other philatelic items from around the world. The collections will include a permanent exhibit of important international stamps as well as rotating exhibits of other key materials. The exhibit will feature original objects and interactive displays—including a map of the world with sliding windows that reveal stamps and other objects associated with each region. |
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