The CWPS recently won a Gold Medal for our website from the 2024 APS Star Route Awards. Our score was 135 out of 148. Many thanks to everyone who contributed!

Make sure to visit the “What’s New on the Website” page. It can be found by hovering over the “Home” tab in the black menu bar. The page provides a summary off the most recent updates along with links so you can jump right to the details.

• If you have not been keeping up lately, the most significant updates have been to the Confederate Census Data. Frank Crown has been hard at work applying updates in the month of October. Take advantage of this very important resource and be sure to submit any material which you have that may not be recorded.
• Links are provided to several Videos that we added to our library earlier this year.
• If you have not reviewed them yet you can see the Awards that were distributed at our Annual Meeting in St. Louis in March.

Check back often for the latest information.  Reminder – find it by hovering over the “Home” tab in the menu bar.

You can also click here.

UPDATE: 10/21/24

Trish Kaufmann completed a presentation hosted by the Philatelic Society of Lancaster County (PA) on September 25th. The presentation is available on our website here.

As outlined below, we are still looking for members to help identify additional targeted venues to present this material. We have individuals who are already trained and available to give this presentation.  We are also prepared to help train anyone who wishes to serve as a presenter. If you think you can help, please review the details below and reach out to contact@civilwarphilatelicsociety.org to get started.

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The CWPS is consistently looking for opportunities to educate others while expanding our reach in the collecting community. We recently announced a powerful tool that can assist in that effort. CWPS member Trish Kaufmann has developed an educational presentation that can be delivered to a wide range of audiences. The presentation covers a broad spectrum of both Union and Confederate Postal History topics. It provides a cross section of topics designed to engage the audience and generate interest in our Society.

We are in need of CWPS members who are willing to share their enthusiasm with others and enlist them to explore this interesting time in our nation’s history. Help is also needed in identifying groups that would be interested in having the CWPS speak at their events. The presentation was created to be given at stamp clubs, stamp shows and other groups such as Civil War Roundtables. Our members are the best source to identify opportunities at local stamp clubs and Civil War related events. We can also share a list of “Civil War Roundtable Groups” throughout the country that may help you target an opportunity close to home.

Call to Action

The hard work has been done. A team of individuals including Trish Kaufmann, Mike O’Reilly and Dan Telep are ready to help you get started. You will be provided with the presentation materials along with supporting documentation to help you prepare for the event. The presentation has been structured to be delivered in 25 to 35 minutes and does not require extensive training or specific in-depth knowledge to present

Take the next Step!  Start by contacting the team at contact@civilwarphilatelicsociety.org . A team member will get back to you shortly to assist you.

We will be reporting our progress along the way and publish both upcoming and completed events. We already have several events scheduled with more events in the planning stages.

Completed Events

• February 21, 2024,  Springfield Stamp Club (Springfield, VA) Presenter: Randy Smith
• March 23, 2024, St Louis StampExpo  (St. Louis, MO) Presenter: Randy Smith
• September 25, 2024, Philatelic Society of Lancaster County (PA) Presenter: Patricia Kaufmann
• October 25, 2025, Balpex Presenter: Randy Smith

Thank you in advance for your help on this important effort for our Society

The CWPS Annual Meeting in St. Louis resulted in a number of awards being presented to our members.  These Society Level Awards covered two categories as outlined below.

Service Awards

Haydn Myer Award – link for past winners

• • Randy Neil – Although this award is typically given for distinguished service to the society in the preceding 12 months, the group agreed to present this award to Randy in consideration of his recent passing and his long-standing support for the society (54 years).

August Dietz Award for distinguished research and writing on Civil War Philately – link for past winners

• • Patricia A. Kaufmann for her article “Ogden Handcrafted Confederate Provisional Forgeries (with Census)”.

The Civil War Philatelist Writers Award – link for past winners

• • Thomas M. Lera for his article “Rebel Archives New Discoveries: Jefferson Davis Covers and Dupree’s Old Store”.
  • John Randolph Miller for his article “Delisting Of Camp Shenandoah as an Army Field Cancel – A Dissenting Opinion”.

Exhibit Awards

CWPS Trophy for best and most comprehensive collection of Civil War stamps and/or covers at the exhibition.

• • Randolph Smith – “Coping with Adversity: How Southerners Adapted to Wartime Paper Shortages”

Research Trophy for best exhibit illustrating new knowledge/understanding of Civil War stamps, covers or postal history, or an extension to existing knowledge

• • Wayne Farley – “Western Virginia: A Period of Turmoil and Unrest”

Generals Award

• • Daniel Telep – “The Refederalization of Confederate Post Offices 1862-1869”
  • Rodney Kelley – “Arkansas Postal Operations:1861-1865”

Robert A. Siegel Memorial Award

• • Daniel Ryterband – “The American Civil War: Adversity Uses”
  • Daniel Knowles  – “United States Demonetization and Transition to the 1861 Design Stamps”.

Conrad L. Bush Award for best One-Frame Exhibit of Civil War material

• • Daniel Knowles – “Trans-Mississippi Express Mail Services by the Confederate States of America Post Office Department and Private Individuals During the American Civil War”

Click HERE to see all the Exhibit Awards and Past Winners of each.

Congrats to all!