Exhibitions

Voting by Mail: Civil War to Covid-19

NOW ON VIEW

First Lady Coolidge voting by mail, 1924

Baseball: America’s Home Run

Behind the Badge

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service

Gems of American Philately

Systems at Work

You drop a letter into a mailbox and then what happens?

Exhibition Highlights

The National Postal Museum's galleries explore America's postal history from colonial times to the present. Visitors learn how mail has been transported and the wondrous diversity of postage stamps.

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

Voting by Mail

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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