2022 Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposium

Back on December 8-9, the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum (NPM) in Washington, D.C. played host to the Twelfth Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposium (PHS). Co-sponsored by the NPM, the American Philatelic Society and the American Philatelic Research Library, the PHS is a biennial event alternatively hosted at the NPM and the American Philatelic Center since 2006.  The symposium provides a unique forum for philatelists, academic scholars, postal historians, and the interested public to discuss and present research that integrates philately into the broader context of world history.

Now the biographies of the presenters, the abstracts of their papers as well as their presentations and session videos are all available on the library’s Postal History Symposium page. Just click on the plus sign + to the right of the title for the 2022 symposium to expand that section of the page and see the links for the bios, abstracts, presentations and videos. 

The 2022 symposium marked a first for the research event in that it was both an in-person and virtual symposium with some attendees and presenters participating in-person at the NPM while others attended the sessions and presented their papers online. Following each session speakers answered questions from attendees both onsite and online.

Looking ahead to 2024 when the research symposium will be hosted by the APS and the APRL, the theme will concern the Universal Postal Union whose 150^th anniversary will be commemorated that year. For further information when details arise regarding the 2024 PHS, be sure to check the symposium page of the APS website.