Postal Inspectors

Topical Reference Page
U.S. Postal Inspector badge

Find resources about the United States Postal Inspection Service on the museum's website.

Postal Inspector Chuck Kelley is on surveillance
Behind the Badge
June 27, 2014 - Indefinitely
Exhibition

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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Clum Locket
Object Spotlight

Inspector John Clum worked for the Inspection Service off and on until 1911. In honor of his retirement, his fellow inspectors surprised him with this gold and diamond locket with the U.S. Post Office Department seal. Inside the locket are the names of his fellow inspectors.

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Handcuffs used during arrest of Unabomber Theodore J. Kaczynski
Director’s Favorite 15 - Deadly Packages
Exhibition
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fake baseball cards
Baseball: America’s Home Run - Investigating Frauds in Baseball Memorabilia
Exhibition
Some baseball fans want to bring home a piece of the game. There is a multi-billion-dollar market for sports memorabilia—and there are plenty of unscrupulous people willing to make a quick buck selling forgeries and counterfeit goods.
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John Clum with his first wife, Mary Ware.
As Precious as Gold - John Philip Clum, Gold Rush Postal Inspector
Exhibition
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Postal Inspector Dan Mihalko in an art gallery
Mail Scams and Schemes: Art Forgeries
Learn firsthand from Postal Inspector and Postal Museum Docent Dan Mihalko about real postal crimes involving counterfeit works of high art sold at a high price!

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Postal Inspector Dan Mihalko holding a baseball
Mail Scams and Schemes: Counterfeit Sports Memorabilia
Learn firsthand from Postal Inspector and Postal Museum Docent Dan Mihalko about real postal crimes involving fraudulent sports memorabilia and forged autographs!

Learn more About Mail Scams and Schemes: Counterfeit Sports Memorabilia

Postal Inspector Dan Mihalko wearing a stethoscope
Mail Scams and Schemes: Medical Quackery
Learn firsthand from Postal Inspector and Postal Museum Docent Dan Mihalko about real postal crimes involving phony health “remedies!”

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Postal Inspector chest badge
Postal Inspectors: The Silent Service
February 7, 2007 - April 8, 2014
Exhibition

Today about 2,000 postal inspectors are at work across the United States investigating crimes against the mail. Learn more about the inspectors and their job in this exhibit.

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Related Blogs

Photo of bright blue uniform jacket; white patch with USPS logo, Olympic 5 ring logo.
Researching Objects for New Acquisitions
05.28.2021

For museums, generally speaking,  “acquisitions” refers to obtaining an object and “accessions” refers to legally taking possession and documenting the object into the museum’s permanent collection. The National Postal Museum recently accessioned several objects into our collection. How did we determine which objects to accession, and what was the process for adding them to our collection? Learn more in a blog by curator Lynn Heidelbaugh.

Learn more About Researching Objects for New Acquisitions

Stampeders to carry their goods up 1,500 stairs carved out of the ice.
John Clum in Alaska
03.05.2019

This Postal inspector was one of the most colorful characters in America’s postal history. His name was John Phillip Clum (1851-1932). Among his various careers were stints as an Indian Agent in San Carlos, AZ; the founding editor of the Tombstone, AZ Epitaph newspaper; as well as the town’s mayor and postmaster. He later served in a variety of areas as postal inspector and picked up the mantel of postmaster later in following trips to Alaska, first in Nome and then Fairbanks.

Learn more About John Clum in Alaska

A case inside the Behind the Badge exhibition containing a mailbox and a hazmat suit.
Postal Museum Opens “Behind the Badge” Exhibition
06.27.2014

The “Behind the Badge” exhibition opened today at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. It showcases the work of one of the nation’s oldest federal law-enforcement agencies. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service dates to 1776, when Benjamin Franklin first sent a...

Learn more About Postal Museum Opens “Behind the Badge” Exhibition

Mug shot of Frank Grigward (aka James Gordon)
Omaha Train Robbery: May 22, 1909
05.22.2013

In the dark of the night around 11pm Union Pacific’s Overland Limited train was stopped just south of Omaha, Nebraska by a pair of men holding pistols and wearing handkerchief masks. When the train stopped, another pair appeared and demanded the mail clerks open up the door to the...

Learn more About Omaha Train Robbery: May 22, 1909

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