When the Mail Goes to WarSmithsonian National Postal Museum
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U.S. soldiers in the recreation hall at Camp Dix in New Jersey are admonished by a large banner to 'write that letter home' during World War I.
U.S. soldiers in the recreation hall at Camp Dix in New Jersey are admonished by a large banner to "write that letter home" during World War I.
  Above: U.S. soldiers in the recreation hall at Camp Dix in New Jersey are admonished by a large banner to "write that letter home" during World War I.    
  A 1918 cover from General John J. Pershing, commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in France, to his young son, Warren. Letters to and from home are morale boosters for GIs and generals alike.
A 1918 cover from General John J. Pershing, commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in France, to his young son, Warren.
    
  Above: A 1918
cover from General John J. Pershing, commander of the
Allied Expeditionary Force in France, to his young son,
Warren. Letters to and from home are morale
boosters for GIs and generals alike.		    
  This U.S. Post Office Military Mail Service badge was assigned to Lt. Col. Norman D. King of the 312th Base Post Office. Located in Frankfort-am-Main, Germany, the 312th handled most mail to and from military personnel in Germany and France during the 1950s and ‘60s.
This U.S. Post Office Military Mail Service badge was assigned to Lt. Col. Norman D. King of the 312th Base Post Office.
    
  Above: This U.S. Post Office Military Mail Service badge was assigned
to Lt. Col. Norman D. King of the 312th Base Post Office. Located in
Frankfort-am-Main, Germany, the 312th handled most mail to and from military personnel in Germany and France during the 1950s and ‘60s.		    
 
  The USPS withdrew this stamp from a 1995 series marking the end of World War II after Japanese and American protests.
The USPS withdrew this stamp from a 1995 series marking the end of World War II after Japanese and American protests.
    
  Above: The USPS withdrew this stamp from a 1995 series marking the end of World War II after Japanese and American protests.    
   


Resources : Symposiums : The 2008 Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposium : Schedule
The Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposium
"When the Mail Goes to War"
September 26-27, 2008


Schedule of Events

 

Friday, September 26, 2008

1:00 – 6:00 PM
Open House of the NPM Library

2:00 PM Discovery Center
“Z is for Zeppelin”
Cheryl R. Ganz, Ph.D.
Smithsonian National Postal Museum

4:00 PM Discovery Center
“Mail Call – Future Exhibit”
Lynn Heidelbaugh
Smithsonian National Postal Museum

6:00 PM
Reception in Museum Atrium
Preview of the Exhibition “Alphabetilately”

6:30 PM
Introduction
Allen Kane
Director, Smithsonian National Postal Museum

6:45 PM
Special Speaker and Awards Presentation
National Postal Museum Director Allen Kane presents the 2008 Winton M. Blount Award of Excellence for outstanding support in the delivery of mail to America’s Troops to Brigadier General Reuben D. Jones
Left to right, National Postal Museum Director Allen Kane presents the 2008 Winton M. Blount Award of Excellence for outstanding support in the delivery of mail to America’s Troops to Brigadier General Reuben D. Jones
Brigadier General Reuben D. Jones, [Remarks]
Adjutant General of the Army and
Executive Director of the Military Postal Service Agency

7:45 PM 
Dessert and Coffee

Saturday, September 27, 2008

8:00 AM Registration and Coffee
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM Two Concurrent Panels

Panel 1: Winning on the Home Front
(Discovery Center)
Moderator: Cheryl Ganz, Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Postal and Treasury Saving Stamps: The War Years
Harry K. Charles, Ph.D.
[Paper|Presentation]
The John Hopkins University

Food Will Win the War: The Farm-to-Table Postal Delivery Program 1917-1918
Robert G. Cullen [Paper|Presentation]
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

One Man’s War: The Wartime Diary of Percy Jacobson, 1939 – 1945
John Willis [Paper]
Canadian Postal Museum

Panel 2: Strategizing Morale
(Blount Center)
Moderator:  Daniel Piazza, Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Morse Code “V” for Victory: Morale through the Mail in WWII
Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris, Ph.D.
Postal History Society [Paper|Presentation]

The Holy See and Communications during World War II
Gregorio Pirozzi, Ph.D. [Paper|Presentation]
Vatican Philatelic Society

The Role of the Central Tracing Agency of the ICRC in Restoring and Maintaining Family Links
Jens-Martin Mehler [Paper|Presentation]
International Committee of the Red Cross

10:00 – 10:15 AM Break

10:15 – 11:45 AM Two Concurrent Panels

Panel 3: Challenging Systems of States and Governmental Mails
(Discovery Center)
Moderator: Dr. Leonard Laborie, Paris–Sorbonne University

A Nation in Civil War: Contrasting Postal Systems
Van Koppersmith and
Wade E. Saadi [Paper|Presentation]
American Philatelic Society

What Happens to the Mail After It Has Gone to War
 Al Kugel [Presentation]
Military Postal History Society
Ephemera Society of America

Panel 4: Examining Censorship due to War
(Blount Center)
Moderator: David L. Straight, American Philatelic Society

Postal Censorship and Military Intelligence during World War II
Ann Pfau, Ph.D. [Paper]
New York State Museum

Intercepted in Bermuda: The Censorship of Transatlantic Mail during World War II
Peter A. Flynn [Presentation]
Bermuda Collectors Society

Censorship during Napoleon’s Exile on St. Helena
Arthur H. Groten [Paper]

11:45 – 12:45 PM Lunch

12:45 – 2:15 PM Two Concurrent Panels

Panel 5: Analyzing Logistics and Systems in Adversity
(Discovery Center)
Moderator: Gini Horn, American Philatelic Research Library

The Impact of the First World War on the Production of Postal History in British Colonies
Dr. Richard Maisel [Paper]
New York University

The Impact of World War II on Airmail Routes from Switzerland to Foreign Countries, 1939-1945
Robert G. Zeigler
American Helvetia Philatelic Society

Picking Up the Pieces: The Aftermath of Hiroshima
Janet Klug [Paper|Presentation]
American Philatelic Society

Panel 6: Interpreting Propaganda and the Post
(Blount Center)
Moderator: Kevin R. Kosar, Library of Congress

Propaganda in the Mail: The Example of the Third Reich
Steven Luckert, Ph.D.
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Philatelic Propaganda: Border Changes in Eastern Europe 1938 – 1941
Robin Gates Elliott, Ph.D. [Paper | Presentation] Independent Scholar

Stars and Strife: Mail to Hollywood Movie Stars during Periods of War
Dr. Thomas J. Richards
and Regis Hoffman [Paper|Presentation]
Military Postal History Society

2:15 - 2:30 PM Final Remarks (Blount Center)

  
 

Gini Horn
David L. Straight
Thomas Lera

  


 
         
 
* * *
  
     

Mark Your Calendar
October 30 – November 1, 2009, at the American Philatelic Society, Bellefonte Pennsylvania, during the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society's Classics 2009.The theme of the symposium will be "Postal Reform in the 19th Century." [CALL FOR PAPERS]

  


  Contact Information

Thomas Lera, Winton M. Blount Chair in Research, Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Media only: Meradyth Moore, Public Affairs Officer, Smithsonian National Postal Museum
phone: 202.633.5509

  
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