Current Exhibitions | National Postal Museum

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Voting by Mail: Civil War to Covid-19

First Lady Coolidge voting by mail, 1924

Baseball: America’s Home Run

Moving the Mail

William H. Gross Stamp Gallery

Every Stamp Tells a Story

History of America's Military Mail

Postcard printed in red with “Official Election War Ballot Via Air Mail” and addressed by hand.

August 24, 2024 - February 23, 2025

Official government election communications play a significant role in America’s democracy. Mail has been and continues to be a way to provide election information and materials to voters. Over time, events and politics have shaped voting-by-mail legislation with provisions added, removed, and amended. The changing logistical and political reasons for the various ways mail has—and has not—been part of the election process continue to define where, when, and how Americans vote in elections.

Postal impresa en rojo con “Boleta Electoral Oficial de Guerra por Correo Aéreo” y dirigida a mano.

Voto por Correo

August 24, 2024 - February 23, 2025

24 de agosto de 2024 - 23 de febrero de 2025
Las comunicaciones oficiales del gobierno acerca de las elecciones tienen una función de gran importancia en la democracia de Estados Unidos. El correo ha sido y será un medio de proporcionar información y materiales electorales a los votantes. A través del tiempo, la política y las circunstancias han influido las leyes del voto por correo, habiéndose añadido, eliminado o enmendado diversas disposiciones. Las variables logísticas y políticas que han moldeado la implicación (o no implicación) del correo en el proceso electoral siguen definiendo dónde, cuándo y cómo votan los estadounidenses en las elecciones.

Baseball: America’s Home Run

April 9, 2022 - January 5, 2025

From fan letters and post office baseball teams to the worlds of stamp and baseball memorabilia collecting, Baseball: America’s Home Run / Béisbol: el Jonrón de los EE.UU. explores our national pastime through a unique, postal lens.

Béisbol: El Jonrón de los EE.UU.

April 9, 2022 - January 5, 2025

9 de abril de 2022 - 5 de enero de 2025
Desde cartas de aficionados y equipos de béisbol de la oficina postal hasta el mundo del coleccionismo de recuerdos y estampillas del béisbol, la exposición Béisbol: el Jonrón de los EE.UU. explora nuestro pasatiempo nacional desde un punto de vista único, como es el de la lente postal.

Postal Inspector Chuck Kelley is on surveillance

Behind the Badge

June 27, 2014 - Indefinitely

Behind the Badge explores the mission and duty of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service. The exhibit examines the inspection service’s history and work through some of its most famous and remarkable cases. Visitors learn how the service helps protect them, sharing tips to guard against scams and fraud.

Digital exhibition with screens showing various stamps

William H. Gross Stamp Gallery

September 23, 2013 - Permanent

Named after its primary benefactor, the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery is the world’s largest gallery dedicated to philately. It provides an experience available nowhere else and offers something for everyone, from casual visitors to experienced collectors.

The Systems at Work exhibition

Systems at Work

December 14, 2011 - Permanent

You drop a letter in a mailbox and then what happens? You receive mail at home or the office—how does it get there? The answer to these questions unfolds in Systems at Work, a permanent exhibition at the National Postal Museum. Systems at Work recreates the paths of letters, magazines, parcels, and other mail as they travel from sender to recipient over the last 200 years.

A corporal distributes mail from her tiny post office in Afghanistan

November 10, 2011 - Permanent

Soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen anxiously awaiting mail delivery is a familiar scene from movies, newsreels, and documentary photographs. Mail call is the moment when the frontline and home front connect. This exhibition tells the history of military mail from the American Revolution to 2010: How does this mail reach its destination? What roles does it play? Why does it influence morale? The exhibition explores the great lengths taken to set up and operate postal services under extraordinary circumstances. It also features letters that reveal the expressions, emotions, and events of the time. On the battlefront and at home, mail provides a vital communication link between military service personnel, their communities, and their loved ones.

An old airplane from the 1920s

Airmail in America

February 22, 2006 - Permanent

In the 1920s and 1930s, funds from airmail contracts breathed life into the nation's fledgling commercial aviation industry.

the 1851 Concord stagecoach on display in the National Postal Museum's Atrium

Networking a Nation

February 21, 2006 - Permanent

In 1845, postal officials tried a new approach to expand the nation’s mail service—Star Routes.

1931 Ford Model A Parcel Post truck on display in the Museum's atrium

December 23, 2004 - Permanent

Discover the history of the postal service's vehicular fleet, the largest in the world.

The Colonial Post gallery wall with a painting of Benjamin Franklin

Binding the Nation

July 30, 1993 - Permanent

This gallery provides an overview of mail service in America from colonial times through the 19th century, stressing the importance of written communication in the young nation.

A sign that says serving the cities

Customers and Communities

July 30, 1993 - Permanent

This gallery focuses on the modern changes in mail service introduced at the turn of the 20th century.

Mail sorting facility

July 30, 1993 - Permanent

The Railway Mail Service revolutionized the way mail was processed by sorting mail aboard moving trains. The National Postal Museum re-created a railway mail train in its Atrium. The interior fixtures is from a de-commissioned mail car. The exterior portion of the Railway Post Office train was created by Smithsonian artisans.

atrium of Moving the mail exhibition

Moving the Mail

July 30, 1993 - Permanent

Transportation is critical to good mail service. Among the National Postal Museum's artifacts are a number of different vehicles that have carried the mail.

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