Philatelic material can be found in many archives, not just in those related to postal history. Archivist Peter J. Roberts in his article “Philatelic Materials in Archival Collections” in the Spring/Summer 2007 issue of The American Archivist, suggests that philatelic material can be found in most archives. Roberts continues that philatelic material can be found not only in personal papers, but also in government or institutional archives, and that these records could contain stamps about that person or entity, rare materials or even entire stamp collections.
A sheet of 1949 Underground Post of Ukraine Cinderella material commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union.
The Ukrainian Museum was founded in New York, N.Y., in 1976 by the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America. The museum’s scope of collecting is Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora in North America, and the museum’s collection is divided into three main categories: folk art, fine art and the archives.
Included within the archival holdings is the museum’s philatelic collection. The philatelic collection began in 1988, and grew from mostly donations from Ukrainian-Americans in New York and the surrounding areas, as well as local, national and international Ukrainian institutions.
A partial sheet of 1959 Underground Post of Ukraine Cinderella material commemorating the 20th anniversary of the independence of Carpatho-Ukraine.
The philatelic holdings include nine 4-inch binders, four archival storage boxes, a stockbook and a selection of philatelic literature; about four cubic feet of materials in total. Within the collection are thousands of stamps, covers, maxim cards, postal history items, literature and labels, along with other cinderella material. The collection is strong in its representation of:
- Diasporal covers and cinderella material featuring Ukrainian themes.
- Modern Ukrainian material.
- Refugee camp material from the Baltics, Germany and Italy.
- Trident-overprinted provisional stamps.
- Ukrainian People’s Republic stamps.
- Ukrainian thematics from countries around the world.
- Underground Post of Ukraine.
One of the museum’s richest holdings is its collection of Underground Post of Ukraine cinderella material. The Underground Post (PPU or Підпільна Пошта України in Ukrainian), a non-state entity, was founded after WWII in West Germany by Ukrainian emigres as a branch of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The PPU issued cinderella material from 1949 to 1983 in order to bring attention to the issues affecting Ukraine and to raise financial support for their armed struggle against the oppressive Soviet state. This material was printed first in Germany and then also in Chicago; all in all the PPU issued about 3,700 stamps and 470 souvenir sheets over its 34 years, creating some of the most impressive examples of non-governmental Ukrainian philately.
A sheet of 2016 personalized Ukrainian stamps commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Ukrainian Museum in New York.
In addition to philatelic material, the museum’s holdings include philatelic literature, though it is limited to a few books, many self-published pamphlets, some serials and binders full of clippings of philatelic writing originally published in diaspora publications. The museum’s library does not have many philatelic or postal history monographs and includes only a few books on postcards.
The collection is currently cataloged by hand in Ukrainian. An English-language finding aid is being developed and there are plans to enter the philatelic items into the museum’s collection management system in the future.
A selection of 1954-1959 Underground Post of Ukraine Cinderella material commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council, a collection of anti-Soviet and nationalist groups, featuring art based upon Carpathian wood engraving.
The collection is not currently digitized, displayed or utilized by the museum in any way, save a couple of commemorative covers in the lobby displaying personalized postage stamps honoring the 40th anniversary of the museum in 2016. The museum’s collection would be of interest to Ukrainian philatelists and scholars, as well as other educators and researchers interested in Ukraine and its diaspora.
A 2016 Ukrainian first day cover with a personalized stamp commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Ukrainian Museum in New York.
Other Ukrainian institutions with philatelic collections in the tristate area include the Ukrainian History & Education Center in Somerset, New Jersey, and the Ukrainian Museum and Library of Stamford, Conn.
I hope this article has inspired you to think about the wide variety of places, including archives, museums and museum archives where philatelic material might be found.
1969 Underground Post of Ukraine souvenir sheet commemorating the Apollo 11 mission while highlighting the erasure of Ukraine and Ukrainian labor in the global space race.
The museum is located at 222 E. 6th St., New York, N.Y, 10003. More information can be found at the museum’s website: www.ukrainianmuseum.org.
A selection of Ukrainian diaspora postcards.
The Author
A.M. LaVey is a New York-based archivist and the Ukrainian indexer for the American Philatelic Research Library. LaVey writes about philatelic informational resources for The American Philatelist and the Philatelic Literature Review, and is scheduled to present a paper on Crimean philately at the 12th Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposium at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in December.