Charles J. Peterson Philatelic Literature Life Achievement Award
Charles “Charlie” Peterson (1933-2009) worked with the International Federation of Philately (FIP) and the American Philatelic Society to turn the idea of a competitive philatelic literature exhibition into a reality – virtually inventing the rulebooks for how to exhibit and judge philatelic literature. He singlehandedly lifted the bar for quality in philatelic publications. Charlie’s legacy is that of “integrity, scholarship, and the unrelenting desire to advance the collective body of [philatelic] knowledge,” qualities that were recognized in his lifetime with the highest accolades offered in philately - admission to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists and the APS John N. Luff Award (which he was awarded twice).
The Charles J. Peterson Award was established two years after Peterson’s passing in 2009, and is awarded by the American Philatelic Research Library every year to a person who embodies the outstanding legacy that Charlie left behind. Peterson award winners are notable for their dedicated work to further philatelic knowledge through philatelic literature.
2021 - Richard F. Winter
Richard Winter, retired U.S. Navy Captain, is the world’s leading specialist on transatlantic mails and maritime postal historian.
Winter’s writing credits are extensive, as he has added significantly to the literature on transatlantic postal history. In 1988, Winter co-authored North Atlantic Mail Sailings 1840–75, published by the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society. Through the APS, he published Understanding Transatlantic Mail (volume 1 in 2006, and volume 2 in 2009). He penned over 100 articles, most with original research in the transatlantic mail field, including original research articles for the 1984 (50th Anniversary), the 2005, the 2006, the 2009, the 2010, the 2014 and 2019 American Philatelic Congress Books. He has written numerous articles on North Carolina postal history subjects for the North Carolina Postal Historian, as well as the North Carolina Catalog Update (online, from 2005 and still updated today). For the USPCS, he wrote a history of the Society (1998) and a monograph on specialized foreign mails (August 1990).
Winter also works behind the scenes as an editor. His credits include associate editor and later editor of the Foreign Mails Section in the Chronicle (1985-2012); associate editor for volumes 3 and 4 of Post Offices and Postmasters of North Carolina; editor of United States Incoming Steamship Mail 1847-1875 (2nd edition), published by Theron Wierenga through the USPCS in 2000; and Winter currently serves as the editor of North Carolina Postal Historian.
His lifetime achievements include the following awards: the USPCS’ Elliott Perry Cup Award (1988) for co-authoring North Atlantic Mail Sailings 1840–75; the USPCS’ Stanley B. Ashbrook Award (1990, 2006, 2015) for philatelic writing, including Understanding Transatlantic Mail volume 1; the USPCS’ Lester G. Brookman Cup Award for service to the USPCS; USPCS’ Distinguished Philatelist (1996); APS’ Luff Award for Distinguished Philatelic Research (1999); American Philatelic Research Library’s J.C.M. Cryer Research Award (2001) for distinguished philatelic research; the Collectors Club New York’s Lichtenstein Award for exceptional service to philately (2003); Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in Stratford-upon-Avon, England (2008); Writers Unit Hall of Fame (August 2010); Deutscher Altbriefsammler-Verein e. V. (DASV) SAVO-Plaquette for his work in postal history and his books about transatlantic mail (September 2012); the Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award (2016); and the North Carolina Postal History Society’s A. Earl Weatherly Award for Research (July 2020).
As an exhibitor, he has participated in 11 International and national exhibitions with three different stampless transatlantic exhibits, winning Gold or Large Gold on almost each occasion (1981-2006). He has also received literature awards for his publications Understanding Transatlantic Mail volumes 1 and 2.
Winter’s contributions to organized philately are also significant. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the USPCS from 1984 to 1996, and its president from 1992 to 1996. From 1999 to 2003, he served on the APS Luff Award nominating committee. From 1998 to today, he has created and contributed to the North Carolina Postal History collection for the North Carolina State Archives. He also served for 16 years as president of the North Carolina Postal History Society. In 2002, Winter was elected a member of the International Association of Philatelic Experts in the topics of postal history and transatlantic mails. He’s served as a trustee of The Philatelic Foundation from 2003 to 2008. He is a Corresponding Member of the Belgian Académie de Philatélie and a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London. And finally, he was a member of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s Council of Philatelists from 2003 to 2009.
Thomas F. Allen Award
Thomas Allen (1942-2007) ran a successful private law firm in Cleveland after graduating with a Yale Law School degree in 1968, but his first passion was always stamp collecting. Thomas was an expert on Ohio postal history, winning an international gold medal for his Cleveland postal markings exhibit. He also co-authored the book 19th Century Cleveland Ohio Postal Markings (1991), served as president of the United States Philatelic Classics Society, and served as president, secretary, and treasurer for many years with the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club.
The Thomas F. Allen Award was founded in 2013 to promote research and philatelic writing. It is awarded each year by the American Philatelic Research Library to the writer(s) of the best article to appear in the Philatelic Literature Review during the previous year. Past winners have shared new research or knowledge, or offered new and relevant discussions to well-studied topics.
2021 – Abhishek Bhuwalka
The 2021 Allen award is presented to Abhishek Bhuwalka for his article “The Bookseller of Frankfurt am Main: An Interview with Burkhard Schneider of philabooks.com” from the Quarter 2 2020 issue of Philatelic Literature Review. Bhuwalka shows great skill in teasing out the personal reminiscences and stories worth recording from some of the greats of philatelic literature. Burkhard Schneider is one of the largest philatelic literature dealers in the world, with a depth of European titles unmatched elsewhere. Additionally, he has purchased some of the greatest philatelic libraries, described in detail in the interview. Burkhard shared:
One of my most important purchases was the “Taunus” library in 2000-01. The owner of this library was Hans-Herrmann Mette. Mette was probably the most important philatelic literature collector of his time in Germany and he had one of the largest private libraries. He was a book binder with very good craftsmanship. He bound all his journals personally; it was like a hobby for him. Not only that, but he also did the binding work of many other philatelists and hence was well known in the community. I got in contact with him when I started dealing in philatelic literature and we became friends quickly. He used to sell his surplus books to me and in turn bought what he did not have. He died suddenly when he was about 60. I bought his library, which is my largest purchase to date. It occupied three vans and included about 10,000 different titles as well as duplicates and long runs of journals. It also had rare postal publications as well as auction catalogues: for example, those of Gilbert & Köhler sales in Paris, including the G. Koch German States auction catalogues in three parts which sold in 1908. I have handled that catalogue only once!