In a ceremony held May 11, 2024, the Collectors Club (NY) presented the Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately to Patricia A. Kaufmann (Trish). This award is given annually for outstanding service to philately.   APS President Cheryl Ganz introduced Trish and presented the award. Congratulations to Trish for this prestigious honor covering her time as a collector, exhibitor, dealer, auctioneer, prolific writer, and most of all “leader” in support of this hobby. This is a well-deserved recognition.

The festivities began with a reception at the new home of the Collectors Club in the heart of New York City (just opposite of Bryant Park). As part of the dinner ceremony, the Collectors Club also presented awards associated with their Single Frame Competition held in November 2023.  CWPS members who received awards included:

• Daniel M. Knowles received an Award of Merit for his exhibit entitled “United States Demonetization and Transition to the 1861 Design Stamps”
• Daniel J. Ryterband received the Holyoake Friendship Cup (for most popular Exhibit) for his exhibit entitled “United States Free Frank Covers”

Daniel Knowles also received the Collectors Club Multi-Frame Exhibit Award (US Classics Period) for 2023 for his exhibit “Mail Handling in the Confederate States of America by the Confederate Government and Private Individuals from Secession to Appomattox.” 

A special thanks to the Collectors Club who allowed the CWPS to use this opportunity to make a special presentation of our Haydn Myer Award for 2023 to Randy Neil who passed away in March of this year.  On hand to receive the award was Randy’s daughter, Merritt.  Trish Kaufmann presented the award in recognition of Randy’s 54 years of service to the CWPS.  Randy was loved by all and his generosity and support for the hobby was unmatched. Randy was also the recipient of the Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately given by the Collectors Club.

For a list of past Lichtenstein Award winners along with their citations click here.

The CWPS looks forward to participating in the twelfth international philatelic exhibition of the United States which is to be held at the Boston Convention Center in May 2026.  The CWPS has committed to making a $5,000 donation in support of this major philatelic event.

A Press Release generated by the Boston 2026 Team can be found at:

https://boston2026.org/2024/04/03/cwps-donates-to-boston-2026/

As outlined in the Press Release, the CWPS will host a table at this historic event in conjunction with the Carriers and Locals Society.  We anticipate holding meetings and offering presentations to help extend our reach in the collector community.

All of the details about the show can be found at Boston2026.

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!

The Civil War Philatelic Society is proud to reprint Frank Crown’s article, “Edward H. Cushing: His Express and the Mail” originally published in the Congress Book 2022. We would like to thank Frank Crown and the American Philatelic Congress for granting permission to reprint this work and enabling the CWPS to share this research with students of Civil War Philately. We also want to thank Kenneth Trettin for once again volunteering to prepare the publication. His support was instrumental in the completion of this project and we are grateful for his contribution.

Mr. Crown’s extensive and thorough research provides a clearer understanding of Cushing’s Express, and provides an historical context to understand the true activities of the Express and how it interacted with the Confederate postal system.  Like many of Mr. Crown’s articles, the depth of original research is truly amazing and should inspire other students to research their respective subjects with equal passion.

The CWPS has distributed copies of this publication to all members.  Copies are available for purchase here.

Additional monographs related Civil War Philately can be found here.