Digital Asset Collections

Refer to caption
Uniformed Letter Carrier with Child in Mailbag, 1900

As the Smithsonian acquired its philatelic and postal operations collections, it also acquired original images and photo-reproductions illustrating:

  • the history of the postal service in the United States—and other countries
  • the hobby of philately and philatelists

The range of subject matter includes:

  • postal workers and officials
  • postal delivery systems (airmail, city, highway, railway, rural, ship, etc.)
  • postal vehicles (bicycles, carts, wagons, sleds, trucks, etc.)
  • postal equipment
  • postal documents
  • historic events (Civil War, postal strikes, Gold Rush, etc.)
  • U. S. and international stamps, covers
  • philatelic collectors and curators

The Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Libraries' onsite branch separately administer their portions of this collection of mostly photographic images. The material, which was assembled to support research, publications and exhibits, is available for public use in digital formats.

Download Free Image Files from Flickr

The Museum requests a complimentary copy of publications in which museum images are published. The Museum requests that its digital media be used with full attribution to National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution.