The CWPS was well represented at this traditionally strong WSP Show.  Civil War related exhibits by members included:

Multi Frame – Large Vermeil

• Randy Smith – “Civil War Washington as Seen Through the Drawings of Charles Magnus, Lithographer”
• Ronald Majors – “Mail between Canada/British North America and Confederate States during U.S. Civil War”

Single Frame  – Gold

• Thomas Lera – “Ship Island Postal Markings: 1862 – 1865”
• James Montich – “Mississippi 1861: Post-Secession Use of U.S. Postage”

In addition to the above Civil War related exhibits, CWPS member Daniel Ryterband was awarded a Large Gold for his single frame exhibit “Steamboat Mail and the US 1847 Issue” and a Large Gold for his multi frame exhibit “The US 1847 Issue: Post-Production Proofs.”

Congratulations to our members on these results.  The full list of awards for NAPEX can be found here.

Reminder:  We will hold our 2026 Annual Meeting at NAPEX (held in Mclean, VA). The show has been moved to August 28-30, 2026 in deference to Boston 2026. We hope to have a very strong showing at this event. It is never too early to start thinking about exhibiting at this show.

 

Two CWPS members excelled as exhibitors at the recently completed EuroPhilEx 2025 held at the National Exhibit Center (NEC) in Birmingham, England.  Daniel Ryterband was 1 of 12 exhibitors included in the prestigious “Federation of European Philatelic Associations (FEPA) Grand Prix Class” with his 8-frame exhibit “A Country Divided: Effects of the American Civil War on the Mails“.  CWPS President Daniel Knowles was awarded a Large Gold Medal (95) for his 5-frame exhibit “Handling United States Domestic and International Mail 1860-1869”.

With over 300 exhibits and 2,000 frames, this was a very competitive event. These results for both individuals are the result of hard work and commitment to exhibiting and are well deserved.  Please join us in congratulating both of them for their significant accomplishment.

The full list of Palmares for this event can be found here.

 

Trish Kaufmann appeared in a feature on “Applause,” the arts and culture program on WVIZ/Ideastream Public Media, to discuss Civil War philately. Season 27, Episode 20, air date April 20, 2025. Photo by Dennis Sadowski. You can watch the video here.

In the video, Trish is filmed in front of a 10-Frame exhibit which was prepared by CWPS member Leonard Hartmann. Leonard was awarded a Large Gold Medal for his exhibit as well as the APS Research Medal. Click here for a list of all the awards presented to CWPS members at this show.

The CWPS Annual Meeting was held at this World Series of Philately(WSP) event and we were well taken care of by the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club. We thank them for their hospitality and for their hard work in promoting the event and for sharing the above video.

We are pleased to announce that Randy Smith has accepted the position of Article Coordinator for the CWP. Randy replaces Frank Crown who recently decided to step away from this role. Our thanks go out to Frank for his work in this position for the past several years.

Randy currently serves as a CWPS Trustee and has contributed numerous articles to the CWP over the years. Randy will serve as the entry point for all CWP articles and will work closely with our editor, Wayne Youngblood. Please reach out to Randy (rpsmith2022@gmail.com) for all article support or questions going forward. Please join us in welcoming Randy into this position.

The CWP is always looking for interesting and informative articles from our members to publish in the journal. The guidelines for article submissions can be found here.

The 2025 CWPS Annual Meeting was conducted March 14-16 at the Garfield-Perry March Party. The Society was well represented at the show with 6 exhibitors totaling 33 frames. Below is a complete listing of the awards presented at the show.

Awards presented to CWPS members at the Awards Banquet on Saturday evening

Multi-Frame Exhibits (Large Gold)

John Lighthouse – “Using the Documents of Commerce to Fund the Civil War 1862-1872″ (92 pts)

• • APS Medal of Excellence for Pre-1900 Material
  • United States Philatelic Classics Society Medal

Leonard Hartmann – “Confederate States of America:  The Lithographed General Issues” (92 pts)

• • APS Research Medal

Multi-Frame Exhibits (Gold)

Richard Calhoun – “Civil War Postal History of the Virginia Peninsula” (88 pts)

Wayne Farley – “West Virginia in the Confederacy” (88 pts)

Randolph Smith – “Civil War Washington as Seen Through the Drawings of Charles Magnus, Lithographer” (86 pts)

• • AAPE Creativity Award

Single Frame Exhibits (Gold)

Leonard Hartmann – “Jean de Sperati: Fake Stamps and Cancellations of the Confederate States of America Stamps” (88 pts)

James Montich – “Mississippi 1861: Post-Secession Use of U.S. Postage” (89 pts)

• • AAPE Novice Award

“CWPS Exhibit Awards” presented at the Society dinner on Friday evening

Civil War Philatelic Society Trophy: Awarded to the member exhibiting the best and most comprehensive collection of Civil War stamps and/or covers at the exhibition.

John Lighthouse – “Using the Documents of Commerce to Fund the Civil War 1862-1872”

President’s Trophy: Awarded for the best exhibit of Civil War stamps and/or covers, in any classification, exhibited by a member who has never previously been awarded any trophy at a Civil War Philatelic Society Exhibition

Jim Montich –  “Mississippi 1861: Post Secession Use of US Postage”

CWPS Trustees’ Research Trophy: Awarded for the best exhibit, single frame, or multi-frame, which illustrates new knowledge/understanding of Civil War stamps, covers or postal history, or an extension to existing knowledge.

Leonard Hartmann – “Confederate States of America – The Lithographed General Issues “

The Generals Award at discretion of the judges

Richard Calhoun – “Civil War Postal History of the Virginia Peninsula”

Robert A. Siegel Memorial Award at discretion of the judges

Leonard Hartmann – “Jean de Sperati Fake Stamps and Cancellations of the Confederate States of America Stamps”

William G. Bogg Memorial Award for best exhibit on the Evolution of Civil War Postal History

Wayne Farley – “West Virginia In The Confederacy”

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

James Montich – “Mississippi 1861: Post Secession Use of US Postage”

John W. Kaufmann Memorial Award for best exhibit of Civil War Patriotic Covers

Randolph Smith – “Civil War Washington as Seen Through the Drawings of Charles Magnus Lithographer”

 

“CWPS Service Awards” presented at the Annual Membership meeting on Saturday morning

Haydn Myer Award: for distinguished service to the CWPS during the past 12 months

Frank Crown – Provided in recognition of his support as the CWP Article Coordinator as well as his substantial efforts related to the numerous Provisional and stampless Censuses that he maintains on the CWPS website.

August Dietz Award: for distinguished research and writing in the field of Civil War philately

Kevin Dudley – “A Tale Of Two Postmasters: The Winchester, VA., Post Office During The Civil War 1861-64”

CWP Writers Award: for the best article appearing in the Civil War Philatelist since the last annual meeting

Frank Crown – “The Memphis Due Markings” in the CWP 2024 Q1 issue