#Smithsonian Postal Museum

[arthistoryanimalia]

#TwoForTuesday + #TerrierTuesday: 2 of the goodest boys in DC!

1 Fala (Scottish terrier, d. 1952), a favorite pet of FDR. Bronze sculpture by Neal Estern at the FDR Memorial.

2 Owney (terrier mix, d. 1897), mascot of the Railway Mail Service & USPS. Bronze sculpture by Daniel C. Brown at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

[johnjhalseth]

My sisters and I visit the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.  As with all the Smithsonian Museums, I could spend all day there and still not see half of the exhibit. It was wonderful.

https://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/

https://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/

[postcardaday]

Boy and 1890's postbox

[sabistarphotos]

May 28, 2022

National Postal Museum

Washington, DC

[todaysbat]

California now has an official state bat: the Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus).

image description: a US postal stamp featuring a photo of a reddish orange bat with cream underside. The stamp is labelled "Pallid Bat" in green. Additional text reads "USA 37" in green and blue. Image source: National Postal Museum, The Smithsonian

Pallid bats are very cool, they're immune to scorpion venom after all, but there are literally two different species of bat found in California with California in their name that I would have expected to be named state bat before the Pallid bat.

California myotis (Myotis californicus) image description: a brown bat with black wings and a very mousey face roosting under a roof Image source: the high fin sperm whale, via wikipedia

California leaf-nosed bat (Macrotus californicus) image description: a grey bat with triangular flap of skin or leaf sticking up from its now. It is being held in a researcher's hand. image source: US Fish and Wildlife Service via wikipedia

[newyorkthegoldenage]

This 1927 poster promotes the airmail connection between New York and Chicago, the nation’s largest business centers.

The Post Office had a difficult time persuading average Americans to use airmail service at first. Banks were the most enthusiastic of the early commercial users . They were able to reduce the float time of checks by using airmail to send them more quickly. For most Americans, however, the speedy service did not compensate for the significantly higher cost. The cost per ounce for airmail service began at 24 cents per ounce at a time when regular mail service cost only 3 cents. The Department began a series of rate cuts as incentives. At one point at the end of 1918, the Department offered airmail service between selected cities at a mere 6 cents per ounce. The price for airmail bounced up and down over the next few years, with rates tied to different levels of service, including distance.

Photo: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution

[detectivehole]

the Smithsonian National Postal Museum online archive goes crazy

[ryebecca]

Took a fun day trip to DC today! I finally made it to one of my most anticipated art exhibits, saw my favorite movie live on stage, and crossed off another museum in my "one new museum (to me) a month" project. If you ever find yourself in the DC area, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum is a fun and interesting one!

[folk-enjoyer]

Smithsonian, National Postal Museum United States Postal Service june 1998

folk musician stamps

[kelliealtogether]

Trick or treat 👻👀

Thank you!

Kokuyo notebooks and blue-black .5 gel pens are my beloveds, and that's what I've been using to scribble about Adam Parrish adjusting to life after college graduation:

Here's a snippet of what's in the pic:

Despite receiving relatively few emails where he had direct action, Adam hadn't turned off Outlook notifications on his work computer. Every few minutes, a new one appeared, a black square in the corner of one dual monitor proclaiming leftover food from a client meeting had been moved to the kitchen if anyone wanted some, or that HR would shortly assign all employees a new mandatory training and everyone should try to complete it as soon as possible. Each time, Adam crossed his fingers it was something more interesting than bagels or an update to the company's AI policy. Usually, it wasn't. He was too new to be important, too young to have his ideas or opinions trusted. In three months of work, Adam Parrish had found out precisely what he was good for: finishing assigned tasks well ahead of schedule and then reenacting Oliver Twist and asking for more. Until a random Wednesday afternoon found him hovering his mouse over a notification so it didn't disappear from his screen, mostly because he did not recall ever providing his work email to the message’s sender.  Ignoring the email’s content — no subject, no signature, simply a hyperlink that had gotten past security and phishing filters — Adam replied How'd you get my email? Faster than Adam expected, Ronan sent back people shouldn't blast their shit all over linkedin. first initial dot last name at company dot come. didn't take a 4 yr degree to figure that out. Or a high school diploma apparently.  ha. ha. ha. do you wanna go to the thing or not? For the first time, Adam paid attention to the link Ronan sent him and — determining a Smithsonian site would not be what Ronan used to infect Adam's work computer with a virus — clicked it, and the most unRonanlike page on the internet opened: a site advertising an event at the Postal Museum to celebrate the USPS launching a set of Dungeons & Dragons stamps, scheduled for that evening at a time well before Adam usually left work. 

Thanks for trick or treating! 🎃🧛🏼‍♀️

[barkingbonzo]

VICTOR OLSON

True Adventures, October 1963

Ivan Victor Olson (August 4, 1924 - June 22, 2007) Victor Olson, of Fanton Meadows, West Redding, Connecticut was a well-known award-winning Fairfield County artist, as well as an illustrator and graphic designer. He has illustrated many national magazine covers for paperback publications and magazine stories for such publishers as Doubleday, Avon Books, MacFadden Books, Bantam and Monarch. He began exhibiting when he was attending Bassick High School in Bridgeport, showing his many works in various galleries. He attended Art Career School in New York City and worked in art studios, both in New York and Connecticut. Victor's portrait of Igor Sikorski was acquired by the Smithsonian Institute and hangs in their National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. He was commissioned by the Postal Commemorative Society to complete eighteen panels featuring famous explorers from Leif Erikson's voyage to Neil Armstrong's landing on the moon. One of Vic's paintings, an oil painting depicting a typical New England scene, is in the private collection of former President Lyndon B. Johnson. Victor presented a painting of Louis Armstrong to his wife Lucille Armstrong to be hung in the Louis Armstrong Museum in New York City. Locally he is known for many of his oil portraits, including those of former Bridgeport Mayors McLevy and Tedesco, as well as portraits of prominent people throughout the Fairfield County area.

[lboogie1906]

Ann Marie Brown Fudge (born April 23, 1951) in DC to Malcolm R. Brown, an administrator at the US Postal Service, and Bettye Lewis Brown, a manager at the National Security Agency.

She married Richard Fudge, Sr. (1971) an educational and training consultant. They have two sons. She received a BA in Retail Management from Simmons College and earned her MBA from Harvard University Business School.

She was the workforce specialist with the General Electric Company. he worked with General Mills Corporation in several leadership positions including marketing assistant, assistant product manager, product manager, and marketing director. She joined Kraft General Foods where she was associate director of strategic planning. She became vice president for marketing and development in the Dinners and Enhancers division at Kraft. She received the Black Achievers Award from the Harlem YMCA.

She was named by Kraft Foods president of the Maxwell House Coffee division, she became the first African American woman to head a corporate division. She was named by Fortune magazine as 30th on the 50 Most Influential Women in American Business. Adelphi University, Howard University, Marymount College, and Simmons College all awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

She was the chairman and CEO of Young and Rubicam Advertising in New York City. She became a member of the Board of Trustees at Morehouse College, as well as a Trustee with the Rockefeller Foundation.

She was a member of the Barack Obama presidential campaign’s finance committee and was named by President Obama to the 18-member National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

She joined the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. She served on the boards of directors of General Electric, Novartis, and Unilever. She served as chair of the US Programs Advisory Board of The Gates Foundation and as vice-chair of the Harvard Board of Overseers. She was installed in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture in the District of Columbia. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[johnjhalseth]

Some of the gems at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. A letter sent on the Pony Express delivered a bit late due to being “Recovered from a mail stolen be the Indians in 1860″.

https://postalmuseum.si.edu/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express

[reasoningdaily]

February is Black History Month The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.

Cultural Expressions

Culture shapes lives. It’s in the food people eat, the languages they speak, the art they create, and many other ways they express themselves. These traditions reflect the history and creative spirit of African American and other cultures of the African diaspora. Cultural Expressions is a circular, experiential, introductory space to African American and African diaspora culture.

16 Black Artists to Know

Are you a fan of Glenn Ligon, Alma Thomas, or Gordon Parks? The National Gallery of Art paired eight Black artists you might know with eight others to discover.

Image Credit: Sam Gilliam, Wissahickon, 1975, color screenprint on wove paper, Gift of Funds from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2023.22.17

Your Park Story: Black History and Heritage

More than 400 years of Black history and heritage are preserved in national parks and communities around the country. Discover stories shared by people who formed powerful connections with these places of history, nature, and enjoyment. Inspire others by sharing your “park story”!

Image credit: Girl takes photo in front of the “We Can Do It” sign at Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park (NPS)

Beginning Feb. 10, 2023, the museum will present a second group of portraits from Brian Lanker’s 1989 book project “I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America.”

Image credit: “Althea Gibson” by Brian Lanker. Gelatin silver print, 1988. National Portrait Gallery.

For Teachers

Put the power of primary sources to work in the classroom. Browse ready-to-use lesson plans, student activities, collection guides and research aids.

Image credit: “Frederick Douglass appealing to President Lincoln and his cabinet to enlist Negroes,” mural by William Edouard Scott, at the Recorder of Deeds building, built in 1943. 515 D St., NW, Washington, D.C. (Library of Congress)

Veterans History

African Americans serving in the military service throughout U.S. history have often fought on two fronts. fighting the actual enemy and fighting a system of segregation and exclusion.

Image credit: Violet Hill Gordon, 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, Women's Army Corps (Library of Congress)

[thesobsister]

A lot of museums offer open access to images as well. The si.edu collection is a particularly good one, drawing on all the museums under the Smithsonian banner such as the National Portrait Gallery, the National Postal Museum, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Here are just a few found using the search term "poster":

[crj-200]

omg give the planes at the udvar-hazy center a little kiss for me <3 i hope you enjoy DC!!! there's also a secret smithsonian plane in the national postal museum

thanks!!! and noted!!!!!! plenty of little plane kisses will be given <3 (also i'll have to make a stop at the postal museum 👀)