CWPS member John Lighthouse in front of his winning exhibit

(Courtesy of the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club)

John Lighthouse was awarded the Multi-Frame Grand Award for his exhibit “Using the Documents of Commerce to Fund the Civil War 1862-1872” at 2026 Garfield-Perry March Party.   John was also awarded the Garfield-Perry Award for the Best U.S. Exhibit and the United States Stamp Society Statue of Freedom Medal With this award, John’s exhibit has qualified for the Boston 2026 Show Champion of Champions competition, where we wish him the very best.

Also exhibiting Civil War related material at the Garfield-Perry March Party, was CWPS Trustee Randolph Smith who was awarded a Large Vermeil for each of his two multi-frame exhibits “Circulars Mailed in the Southern States” and “Civil War Washington Through the Lithographs of Charles Magnus“.

See the PALMARES for the full list of awards. Congratulations to all who participated.

The Society is sad to report the passing of Steve Feller. Steve joined the Society in 2007 and contributed multiple articles to the CWPS journal over the past 5 years. The above photo was extracted from an article Steve contributed to the Q4 2020 edition of the journal. Steve stands in front of the Thomas de la Rue pub in St. Peter Port, Guernsey in 2006. This is near the birthplace of de la Rue. The printing company founded by de la Rue was one of the leading stamp printers in the world at the time of the American Civil War. You can read the full article here.

The society is thankful for Steve’s contributions and extends our sympathy to his family and friends. In the recently completed society elections, Steve was voted to serve as a Trustee for the 2026/2027 term. In concurrence with the by-laws, in order to the fill the vacancy, the existing board voted unanimously to re-instate James Montich as a Trustee. Jim was included on the election ballot and was only a few votes short of Steve in his bid for re-election. We thank Jim for his willingness to continue his support of the Society as a Trustee.

A new project has been undertaken by CWPS members Frank Crown, James Montich and Jerry Palazolo. The intent of this project is to update and list “all known markings” on Mississippi stampless covers from the Confederate era.

This project in being built upon a series of previous efforts with origins in 1945 when August Dietz began chronicling handstamped paid markings from the various Confederate States in his latest edition of a Confederate catalog. These predecessor projects finally culminated in 2012 with the publishing of the Confederate States of America Catalog and Handbook of Stamps and Postal History.

The initial results of this new project can be found from the main menu under “Resources / Confederate Census / Stampless Covers / Mississippi Stampless Covers from Major Holdings” or just click here.

CWPS President Daniel Knowles’ exhibit “Trans-Mississippi River Express Mail Service by the CSA POD and Private Individuals during the American Civil War” was presented the Grand Award at the Collectors Club of New York (CCNY) 2025 Single Frame Competition.

Dan was also awarded the “CCNY Friendship Cup” which is given to the exhibit voted as the best by the Club members (similar in nature to the “Most Popular Exhibit Award”).

The program containing the full list of 17 exhibits can be found here. Although their exhibits were not Civil War related, three additional CWPS members participated in this competition:

• Alfredo Frohlich – Replating Colombia’s 1861 1 Peso Stamp
• Chip Gliedman – The Temperance Movement’s Use of the Mails in English-speaking Countries in the Mid-19th Century
• Michael Wilson – “Golden Age of Flight” & A Postal Thief

A recording of the event is available here. Several individuals were chosen to describe their exhibits to the attendees. The selected CWPS member presentations can be viewed at the following points in the video:

• Daniel Knowles (25:30)
• Michael Wilson (44:30)
• Chip Gliedman (57:20)

Our congratulations to Dan and the all participants in this competition.

The CWPS is consistently looking for opportunities to educate others while expanding our reach in the collecting community. 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.

Call to Action

The hard work has been done. Several individuals have taken the leap and shared this presentation already and we have people 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. You can click here to see a delivery of this presentation by Trish Kaufmann to the Philatelic Society of Lancaster County PA.

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