Mary Ann Aspinwall Owens (June 24, 1928 – November 21, 2005), of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, was an advocate of thematic collecting of postage stamps, such as collecting stamps showing birds, butterflies, ships, famous art, and so on. She was successful in her effort to officially help introduce thematic collecting into national and international philatelic exhibitions.

Collecting interests

Owens was a collector of thematic subjects on stamps, and was a pioneer in getting the philatelic community to accept thematic collecting as a valid branch of philately. She exhibited her collections at national and international philatelic events, and won numerous gold prizes. Her exhibit of “elephants on stamps” was the first thematic exhibit to win gold and large gold.

Philatelic activity

Owens served on the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee . She was accredited as a thematic judge by the American Topical Association, the

American Philatelic Society The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting foundation of philately in the world. Both the membership and interests of the society are worldwide. History The organization, originally named the ''American Phil ...

, and the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie, and served as judge at many shows.

Honors and awards

In 1969 she was awarded the Distinguished Topical Philatelist Award by the

American Topical Association The American Topical Association (ATA) is a US-based philatelic society and the largest organization devoted to topical stamp collecting. It was established in 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Jerome (Jerry) Husak. It currently serves members in o ...

, and, in 1978, she was elected to the Wisconsin Philatelic Hall of Fame. In 1991 she received the

Luff Award The Luff Award is awarded by the American Philatelic Society (commonly known as the APS) for meritorious contributions to philately by living philatelists. Established The award was established in 1940 in memory of John N. Luff, distinguished ...

of the

in the category ''Exceptional Contributions to Philately'. She was named to the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame in 2007.

References

Mary Ann Aspinwall Owens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Owens, Mary Ann Aspinwall 1928 births 2005 deaths American philatelists People from New York City American Philatelic Society Women philatelists

Collecting interests

Philatelic activity

Honors and awards

See also

References