Virtual Exhibitions | National Postal Museum

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American Art on Postage Stamps

Telling the Story of a Nation

(Virtual Exhibit)

Virtual Exhibition

International Philately

A Stamp for Every Country (Virtual Exhibit)

People and the Post

About Postal Operations

The below virtual exhibits are available online only; they are not on display in the museum.

20-cent featuring a painting of seven Hispanic Americans

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage

People, Places and Events on Stamps
Stamps illuminate what we value as a people and a culture, and the National Postal Museum’s Celebrating Hispanic Heritage: People, Places and Events on Stamps sheds new light on the many contributions of Hispanic Americans and Latinos to the exploration, culture, growth, and defense of the United States. The virtual exhibit is bilingual (English and Spanish/Español).

Airmail etiquette, Mexico

Mexico Via Airmail

Political leaders purposefully use print culture to promote political agendas, solidify authority, and fire patriotic emotions. The stamps issued by Mexico after its 1910-1920 revolution offer a compelling example. Among the postage stamps issued for this purpose, Mexico's airmail stamps played a significant role. This virtual exhibition is bilingual (English and Spanish) and features stamps and mail of Mexico.

40 cent Gaillard Cut Airmail stamp from Panama Canal Zone

Canal Zone Stamps

Though it existed as a stamp-issuing entity for only about seventy-five years, the Panama Canal Zone has a long history.

25-cent Flathead Headdress stamp

The American Indian in Postage Stamps

Leadership, Accomplishment and Cultural Celebration
Historic American Indian leaders honored here on postage stamps, exemplify a wide range of reaction to the radical confrontations that would drastically affect the traditions and culture of their peoples. Some chose resistance and war; others chose a path of adaptation and accommodation to a new way of life. In all cases, these leaders of nations were elder representatives of huge extended families, and their commitment to future generations was paramount.

Mural called Bimini Island featuring a painting of American Indians performing a variety of activities

Indians at the Post Office

Native Themes in New Deal-Era Murals
There is much to be discerned about the post office murals from the 1930s and 1940s, and what they can tell us about the way we see, and have seen, the world.

20 cent Hawai’i Statehood stamp with illustration of a Polynesian canoe and bird

Stamps Across the Pacific

This virtual exhibition features every U.S. postage stamp issued to date (2023) that honors Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Americans or their history and culture. It also highlights some stamps that depict the natural environments of the places from which they came.

illustration of three red lanterns on a stamp

Lunar New Year Postage Stamps

The U.S. Postal Service celebrates the 12-year cycle of the Chinese lunar calendar with postage stamp series.

33-cent Women Support War Effort stamp

Women on Stamps: Part 1

This virtual exhibition is the first in a series of four focusing on the accomplishments of women featured on stamps. In Women on Stamps: Part 1, we acknowledge the efforts of pioneering women and early government leaders who entered previously unexplored territories - from the frontier to the Senate floor.

32-cent Bessie Coleman stamp

Women on Stamps: Part 2

This virtual exhibition is the second in a series of four focusing on the accomplishments of women featured on stamps. In Women on Stamps: Part 2, we feature women who pioneered in the fields of health, education, science, philanthropy, aviation and athletics.

34-cent Frida Kahlo stamp

Women on Stamps: Part 3

This virtual exhibition is the third in a series of four focusing on the accomplishments of women featured on stamps. In Women on Stamps: Part 3, we feature women who have made significant contributions to the visual arts and literature.

34-cent Lucille Ball stamp

Women on Stamps: Part 4

This virtual exhibition is the fourth in a series of four focusing on the accomplishments of women featured on stamps. In Women on Stamps: Part 4, we feature women who have made significant contributions to the performing arts.

Carter Woodson in front of shelves of books

The Genesis of Dr. Carter Woodson’s Negro History Week

When there were no academic journals to counter racist scholarship, Dr. Carter G. Woodson created one. When no professional presses would accept materials about African Americans, he founded one. Former Smithsonian Fellow Kimberly D. Brown explores Woodson and the origins of Black History Month. Adapted from the National Museum of American History Blog.

1965 Voting Rights Act stamp

The Black Experience

African Americans on Postage Stamps
Since the founding of the United States, African Americans have played a pivotal role in the shaping of American history and heritage. Their contributions to America have included the fields highlighted by the 1940 Famous Americans and many more. This virtual exhibition showcases the black experience in the United States through the lens of American postage stamps.

37-cent Thurgood Marshall stamp

Thurgood Marshall

One of America's Greatest Civil Rights Pioneers
By the time Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the United States Supreme Court on June 13, 1967, he had already made his mark on the “highest court in the land.”

4-cent Abraham Lincoln postage stamp

Lincoln from Postmaster to President

A dedicated public servant, Lincoln’s first civil service position began at the age of twenty-four as the postmaster of the New Salem, Illinois post office.

A colorful Kwanzaa stamp featuring a family lighting a Kinara.

Sharing the Timeless Principles of Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is the ideal time to consider harmonious and principled togetherness in the family, the neighborhood, the nation, and the world.

Shown under an ornately carved stone arch, a young woman holds a baby on her lap as she sits on a curving gold chair.

The Art of Christmas Stamps

Works from the National Gallery of Art (Virtual Exhibit)
Since 1970, two general themes of Christmas stamps have been issued yearly by the U.S. Postal Service: one “traditional” and one “contemporary.” The traditional stamps tend to be based on religious artwork, while the contemporary stamps usually have a secular subject. To showcase this tradition, the National Gallery of Art and the National Postal Museum have partnered to create this virtual exhibition, which explores the art behind US Christmas stamps.

'Christmas Overseas 1918' postcard with an illustration of several troops looking through packages

Over two million American military service men and women were stationed in Europe when the declaration of Armistice on November 11, 1918 effectively ended World War I. The deployed service personnel of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) transitioned from combat readiness, advanced to occupy Germany and began preparations to demobilize. Many, who had hoped to return home to the United States by Christmas 1918 could not, but with the help of the Red Cross, military and postal officials already had plans to deliver Christmas by mail.

4-cent 48-Star Flag stamp

Long May It Wave

The Story of the American Flag Through Stamps

50-cent Freedom From Want stamp

American Art on Postage Stamps

Telling the Story of a Nation
From the early colonial period to the present day, American artists have captured their interpretation of the American experience using different forms of art. These pieces of fine art have been adapted to portray famous American individuals, events, and geography on postage stamps. Postage stamps depicting fine art have become another looking glass into this country and its many themes.

Photograph of letter carrier Jeanette Lee in Chicago

About Postal Operations

Featuring Research Volunteer Contributions

a variety of about 20 early U.S. stamps

About Philately

Featuring Research Volunteer Contributions

55-centime Europa Globe stamp, Monaco, 2006

International Philately

This virtual exhibition includes approximately 950 stamps and mail-related items, one or more from every country in the world that has produced stamps and many countries that no longer exist.

24-cent Curtiss Jenny invert stamp

About U.S. Stamps

Featuring Research Volunteer Contributions

Western States staff member in front of recyclable water-based ink equipment.

America’s Mailing Industry

Powered by the United States Postal Service
“America’s Mailing Industry” explores the 200 year-old partnership between private industry and the United States Postal Service, who together provide efficient and effective communication and commerce channels to consumers and businesses across the United States and the world. Stories of “America’s Mailing Industry” focus on how companies, entrepreneurs and multi-generational family businesses – in partnership with the U.S. Postal Service – helped to enhance and grow the commerce and communications channels in the United States. Inventors and innovators will be explored and showcased from all major components of the industry.

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