The Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History, originally known as the Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the appreciation of diversity through the medium of

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s and

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is att ...

Location

The museum is located at 241 Wellesley Street, on the campus of Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts. It is open to the public Thursdays through Sundays ten months of the year, and Thursday to Saturday in July and August.

History

The Spellman Museum was founded in 1961 to house and share the collection of Cardinal Francis Spellman. Cardinal Spellman was introduced to the world of stamps by seminarian Lawrence Killian prior to World War I, while they were at the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Pri ...

in Rome, Italy. Cardinal Spellman used stamps as souvenirs, having them signed to commemorate events in the church and in the world. During his years in Europe, he shipped stamps he had collected to Sister Fidelma Conway, CSJ, a colleague at Regis College, for safe keeping. Sister Fidelma acted as caretaker his collection, which grew larger than could be easily housed at Regis. In 1961, ground was broken on campus for the museum. Also in 1961, the National Philatelic Museum in Philadelphia, aligned with Temple University, was dissolved. Most of its equipment, literature, and philatelic holdings were transferred to the newly incorporated Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum, which officially opened in 1963. The museum now contains over two million items, ranging from postage stamps, to postal history, to artifacts of communications through the mails. Major holdings include Cardinal Spellman's personal collection and those from the former National Philatelic Museum, and collections or portions of collections donated or loaned by notables including Presidents

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

and

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

, musician Jascha Heifetz, and U.S. Army General Matthew Ridgway. In 2020, the museum updated its name to ''The Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History''. It operates as an independent not for profit, 501(c)(3), self-supporting educational institution and is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.https://spellmanmuseum.org/

The Spellman philosophy

The museum's principal mission is to engage and teach diversity,

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, and

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

through philatelic exhibits, a research library, resource center, educational programming and community outreach. Cardinal Spellman, around 1950, wrote:

Funding

The museum is supported by a membership program, grants, annual donations, admission and research fees, retail sales, and an endowment.

Organization

The museum is administered by a Board of Trustees, a museum staff, a Director's Round Table of friends it can call upon for advice and support, and a number of dedicated volunteers.

Special services

For a nominal charge, the museum will evaluate philatelic collections, and extract archived collections for private viewing. The research library is open by appointment and houses an extensive international collection of philatelic literature, including thousands of books, catalogs, audiovisual media, and periodicals relating to stamps and postal history, as well as the history of philately and related subjects. The museum also operates a facility rental program for interested groups and for hosting private events. Special activities and public events are held at the museum, and are listed under Programs and Events tab on the museum website.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History Philatelic museums in the United States History museums in Massachusetts Museums in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Museums established in 1960 1960 establishments in Massachusetts Regis College (Massachusetts)