[Special Note: If you have any clippings,
photos or memorabilia of the CSA's past (pre-1990), please get in touch
with our webmaster.]
In 1935,
Hiram Deats, an early president of the American Philatelic Society and
avid Confederate collector, meets August Dietz, Sr., founder of the
Confederate Stamp Alliance.
Photos below were located for us
by Trish Kaufmann...
This photo of MacBride,
Weatherly and Dietz appeared in the Spring 1982 issue of The Dixie
Philatelist (Official publication of The Southern Philatelic
Federation), Volume XVI, Number 1, courtesy of H.L. "Sonny" Hill, who
was the editor at the time. The photo was taken at the Society of
Philatelic Americans convention in New York City on August 15, 1952 by
Adrien Boutrelle of New York.
A. Earl Weatherly, probably
in the late 1960's, posing among some of his prized postal history and
exhibit awards. Photo courtesy of Tony Crumbley.
Title page from Earl Weatherly's exhibit.
Gen. Malpass was CSA
President from 1955-57, a prolific writer and researcher, particularly
on patriotics of both North and South. Part of the story of his
collection appeared in The Confederate Philatelist, Volume 50, Number 1,
Whole Number 344, January-March 2005, which
appears online at this
site.
Generals Charlie and Lucy
Kilbourne are presented with the crystal bowl at SIPEX in 1966 where
they won the International Champion of Champions with their unequaled
Confederate exhibit. Presenting the prestigious award is Svend Yort,
as John Boker looks on. They were well loved in Confederate circles,
always ready to invite you into their home to show their spectacular
collection and share their knowledge.
Front row, left to right:
Leonard H. Hartmann, Sherrell Nunnelley, M. Clinton McGee, Billy Matz,
Dr. J.A. Graves. Back row, August H. Lentz, Dr. Thomas Ray, Floyd Likins,
Hubert C. Skinner and Nicholas G. Koutroulis. This photo appeared in the
May 1968 Confederate Philatelist and was contributed by the then editor,
Leonard Hartmann.
M. Clinton McGee, at left,
enjoys a moment with Robert Wiseman at NOPEX '68. Wiseman, who was the
CSA President from 1957-1959, was best known to Confederate collectors
for his plating of the "Frameline" issues. McGee was CSA President from
1967-1969. An Alabama law professor, McGee is responsible for
incorporating the Alliance and getting our non-profit status with IRS.
Trish Kaufmann in 1981. She
was editor of The Confederate Philatelist from 1970-1987.
Dick Byne presents Trish
Kaufmann with the Haydn Myer
ward at the 1980 Annual CSA Convention.
Robert S. Phillips was CSA
President from 1966-67
and died while in office. He was a specialist in
North Carolina postal history.
Historic CSA application circa 1939 with dues of $1 a year. If you pay
after March 1st, it's only 50-cents!
Philatelic luminaries,
including many well known Confederate collectors, pose in front of the
office of The Virginia Philatelist in 1898. From left to right are
Charles F. W. Moser, John Paalzow, W. H. Boschen, August Dietz, Franklin
L. Kerns, Franklin Sterns, Jr. (on the steps), J. J. Knotts, Capt. John
E. Weckert, Major John F. Mayer, Thomas Christian, Charles P. Davis, and
Henry C. Scott, Jr. The building is the old "Goddin Hall", which housed
the last post office of the Confederacy in Richmond and was the location
of August Dietz's first printery. The historic old building was razed
many years ago.
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A concise history of the Confederate Stamp Alliance.
We are grateful to Gen. Richard L. Calhoun and Gen. Trish Kaufmann for providing us with the
following story of how the Confederate Stamp Alliance was founded and
has flourished through the years. We will be adding to this page on into
the future. If you have any articles and/or photographs that pertain to
our history, please contact
our webmaster, Randy Neil.
Prior to the end of the Civil War, individuals
began collecting the stamps issued by the Postmasters of various
southern cities and the Confederate Government. Information on
various aspects of Confederate Philately date back to the 1870s when
early stamp catalogs and monthly journals published data that was
presented to them. By the early 1900s, with the increased popularity
of stamp collecting, many fakes and counterfeits stamps, including
those of the Confederacy, were being offered to unsuspecting
collectors. It wasn't until the early 1920s that authoritative
information on Confederate stamps and postal history, based on
research and knowledge, was offered to serious collectors.
In 1924, an avid researcher and collector, who was also a printer
and editor, began writing articles on the subject of Confederate
postal history. Mr. August Dietz, Sr., owner of the Dietz Publishing
Company and editor of the Southern Philatelist published in Richmond
Virginia, began providing informative articles to aid the increasing
number of Confederate collectors. Mr, Dietz, born in Prussia, moved
with his parents to Richmond in 1871 and began collecting as early
as 1880. An engraver trained in lithography and typography, Mr.
Dietz understood the printing processes necessary for the
preparation of the various Confederate postage stamps.
With his in-depth knowledge of printing and interest in Confederate
postal history, it has long been speculated that Mr. Dietz obtained
some of his information directly from the postmasters, printers
and/or clerks that had firsthand knowledge of many of the actual
philatelic items used during the Civil War. By 1896, Mr. Dietz was
the editor of The Virginia Philatelist, a monthly stamp magazine
printed in Richmond. In March 1901, he started his own company, the
Dietz Printing Company in Richmond. In subsequent years, he operated
the company with his son, August Dietz. Jr. as Business Manager, and
published The Southern Philatelist (1924 - 1929), The New South
Philatelist (1929 - 1933), Stamp and Cover Collecting (1933 - 1936),
and Stamp and Cover Collecting Review (1937 - 1939).
Each of the publications on which he worked contained articles
related to Confederate philately, including new finds, plating
research, illustrations of postal markings, and answers to Questions
from collectors. He also wrote several reference books on
Confederate philately, including the 1929 treatise, The Postal
Service of the Confederate States of America. That book, often
referred to as "The '29 Dietz," included most of the information
printed in his earlier publications. Today, August Dietz Sr. is
considered the Father of Confederate Philately. A short biography of
August Dietz Sr., appears in the September 1900 <Vol. IV, No.1)
issue of the Virginia Philatelist.
By mid-1934, a small group of serious Confederate collectors was
beginning to emerge. In February 1935, Dr. Marye Y. Dabney, another
enthusiastic Confederate collector and friend of August Dietz, wrote
to Mr. Dietz and suggested that an organization be formed for the
more intensive study of Confederates, the exchange of relevant data,
and the dissemination of acquired knowledge. The name of the
organization suggested by Dr. Dabney was the Confederate Stamp
Alliance, a name that has continued to this day. The idea quickly
caught on and Mr. Dietz welcomed each new member and conferred upon
him or her the honorarv title of Colonel. In October 1948, the
membership reciprocated and bestowed on him the first honorary title
of General.
By early 1937, the Confederate Stamp Alliance had so far enlisted 85
members, 81 of whom were still active members. In April 1937, the
Alliance decided to issue membership numbers to the 81 active
members, based on an alphabetical membership list. Thus Colonel Earl
B. Antrim became CSA member number 1, Colonel Stanley B. Ashbrook
became CSA member number 2, and so forth. In August of that year,
the Confederate Stamp Alliance held its first national convention in
Asheville, North Carolina.
In 1940, Mr. Dietz discontinued publication of The Stamp and Cover
Collecting Review and began publishing a 4-page pamphlet, The
Confederate Buletin, exclusively for the members of the Confederate
Stamp Alliance. During World War II interest and activities in the
Confederate Stamp Alliance declined and the organization remained
informal, although The Confederate Bulletin continued until August
1952. In 1944, Colonel Haydn Myer the Secretary-Treasurer of the
CSA, took the lead in revitalizing the organization. He began
printing a monthly newsletter for the membership, discussing
activities and general interests of the members. Renewed interest
and enthusiasm in the Confederate Stamp Alliance began. In August
1945, the second national convention of the CSA was held in Newark,
New Jersey, in conjunction with the annual American Philatelic
Society exhibition. In April 1938, the Confederate Stamp Alliance
adopted a Constitution and By-Laws which, from time to time, have
been revised and amended to meet the changing needs of the Alliance.
From the mid-1940s, interest in Confederate Philately and Civil War
history in general grew steadily as the nation moved towards the
Civil War Centennial of 1961-1965.
In 1952, the Trustees honored the dedication and hard work of the
former Secretary- Treasurer, General Haydn Myer (the second member
to receive the honorary title of General in October 1948), and
created the first Confederate Stamp Alliance service award in his
name. The Hadyn Myer Award may be presented annually by the Trustees
for distinguished service to the Confederate Stamp Alliance.
Similarly, in 1962 the Trustees created the August Dietz Award. This
award, in honor of the many years of dedicated Confederate
philatelic research and writing by General August Dietz, may be
presented annually by the Trustees for distinguished research and
writing in the field of Confederate philately,
Although Mr, Dietz willingly offered opinions on Confederate
material submitted to him by members and non-members, it was not
until 1946 that the Confederate Stamp Alliance formed an
Authentication Committee. The first CSA Authentication Committee was
appointed by the Trustees and consisted of three members; Colonel
Lawrence W. Shenfield as Chairman, Colonel August Dietz, Sr., and
Colonel Stanley B. Ashbrook. Today the Authentication Committee
consists of 11 active members and General Billy Matz, Authentication
Committee Member Emeritus, who review and offer opinions on more
than two hundred Confederate philatelic items per year.
In 1951, the Trustees decided that election of officers should be
every two years and by 1966 they established January 1st as the date
that the terms of office would begin. As the organization continued
to grow, in 1971, under the leadership of President Billy Matz, the
office of Secretary-Treasurer was divided into two offices---namely
that of the Secretary and the Treasurer. In 1993, under the
leadership of President Peter Powell, the office of General Vice
President was divided into two offices, namely the First Vice
President and the Second Vice President. The First Vice President
also assumed the duties as the Grievance Committee Chairman. Colonel
William McCarren assumed the interim position as the first Second
Vice President.
In the fall of 2005, the membership voted to once again change the
make-up of the officers and trustees. As of January 2006, the
governing body of the Alliance became a President, Vice President,
Secretary, Treasurer and four trustees, effectively abolishing the
regional vice president designations, which were often difficult to
effectively manage. This first board consisted of President Jim
Monroe, Vice President Trish Kaufmann, Secretary Rich Murphy and
Treasurer Van Koppersmith, as well as 4 trustees.
With the increasing membership, the Trustees took steps to insure
the organization remained financially sound, On January 15, 1968,
the Confederate Stamp Alliance filed a Declaration of Incorporation
in Tuscaloosa County of the State of Alabama to become a non-profit
organization. In 1973, Colonel Gerald V. Stewart bequeathed his
entire Confederate collection to the Alliance. The collection was
sold at auction and the proceeds used to establish the Stewart
Educational Trust Fund. This fund is used to make grants to members
for educational and research projects, relative to Confederate
philately. Similarly, in 1988, the Trustees established the
General's Fund for Excellence, a permanent endowment to enhance and
augment the research and publications of the Alliance.
In 1977, the Confederate Stamp Alliance was granted tax-exempt
status. With its tax- exempt status the CSA has been the recipient
of several gifts. The largest and most significant gift to date has
been the Freeland-Hill-Gallagher Reference Collection. This
virtually complete collection of Confederate fakes, forgeries, and
fantasies formed by the late Rev. Paul B. Freeland, was provided to
the CSA through the generosity of Colonel John R. Hill Jr. and
Colonel Scott Gallagher.
In June 1978, the American Philatelic Society accepted the
Confederate Stamp Alliance as an affiliate (No. 73) in their
organization. This enabled the two organizations to share files for
membership, authentication and recruiting. With the increasing
material available for reference and research, in 1982 the Trustees
chose the Wineburgh Philatelic Research Library as the official
repository for the archives and research material of the Alliance.
This library, located at the University of Texas at Richardson, has
become the central resource for numerous books, pamphlets,
periodicals, and manuscripts pertaining to Confederate postal
history subjects,
Nearly 135 years after the Civil War, collectors of Confederate
postal history are still attempting to understand many of the
unusual and unique items that were used to convey mail during those
difficult years. The study, research and collecting of the 14
Confederate general issue stamps, Postmaster Provisional stamps from
more than 55 southern cities, hand-stamped rate markings from more
than 770 southern cities, manuscript markings, patriotic covers,
express mail, Prisoner-Of-War mail, blockade-run mail, and many
other aspects of postal history have captured the interest many.
Research projects and collections have focused on particular cities,
particular stamps, particular markings, general Confederate postal
history, soldier's mail, prisoner-of-war mail, and numerous other
specialized and general areas of interests. Although it is estimated
that less than one-half of one percent of the Confederate philatelic
items (1 out of every 200) have survived for our research, enjoyment
and collecting interests today, many spectacular items do exist and
new finds are continuing to be made.From its early beginnings,
the Confederate Stamp Alliance has attracted many serious collectors
and researchers of Confederate philately. From the 81 members in
1937, the CSA declined slightly during the years of World War II,
but then steady grew by 1979 to more than 800 members from the
United States and ten foreign countries. Today, many of the members
of the CSA are the proud owners of the most highly prized and sought
after gems in the philatelic world. |
Official CSA
Publications
Although
published information on various aspects of Confederate philately
dates back to the 1870s, it wasnt until the early 1920s that
authoritative information began to be published. August Dietz, Sr. an
avid collector, researcher and writer of Confederate philately, is
considered the Father of Confederate Philately. More detailed
information on Dietz and prior publications will be available on the
Alliance Website at csalliance.org in the history section.
Although,
the Confederate Stamp Alliance was formed in 1935 at the suggestion of
Dr. Marye Y. Dabney to August Dietz, there was no official
publication in those first few years. Information to members was
disseminated through Stamp and Cover Collecting, a monthly
stamp journal edited by August Dietz.
The first
publication exclusively for Alliance members was the Confederate
Bulletin, a small pamphlet of 27 issues put out between early 1940
and August 1952. The first two issues were printed without a date.
From September 1952 until February 1956, members of the Alliance
obtained their official information from the monthly newsletters of
the Secretary-Treasurer, Haydn Myer (September 1944 - August 1948) and
Thomas W. Crigler (September 1948 - August 1959).
Beginning in
February 1956, the Alliance again had its own monthly publication, the
Confederate Stamp Album. Beginning in January 1960, the
publication was renamed the Confederate Philatelist and
continued as a monthly publication through April 1967. In May of 1967,
the CP became a bi-monthly journal. In January 1972, the name
of the publication was changed to The Confederate Philatelist,
the name that it still retains. The Confederate Philatelist was
reformatted to a larger size in January 2005 and became a quarterly
publication.
Over the
years, various newsletters were published periodically to inform the
membership of upcoming activities. Newsletter editors included Haydn
Myer, Tom Crigler, Frank Crown, Jerry Palazolo, Ron Tate, Rick
Calhoun, and currently Jim Monroe.
CSA
Official Publication Editors
Early 1940 August
1952 August Dietz, Sr. - Editor
February 1956 January
1958 David Kent - Editor
May 1958 April
1968 Henry M. Spelman, III Editor
March December 1965
Billy Matz Associate Editor
January 1966 April
1968 Leonard H. Hartmann - Associate Editor
May 1968 June
1970 Leonard H. Hartmann Editor
July 1970 June
1973 Brian & Patricia Green Co-Editors
July 1973 December
1987 Patricia A. Kaufmann Editor
January 1974 August
1975 Jerry S. Palazolo Associate Editor
January 1988 December
2004 Stefan T. Jaronski & Genevieve M. Gwynne
Co-Editors
January 2005 March
2006 Daniel C. Warren, M.D. Editor
April 2006
present Richard L. Sine Editor
April 2006
present Patricia A. Kaufmann Associate
Editor
Confederate Stamp
Alliance Website
www.csalliance.org
Gen. Richard H. Byne was the first one to see the increasing value of
the Internet and put up a simple one page Website for the Alliance on
his own Webspace in late 1997 or early 1998. There was no domain name
for it at the time. The URL was (and can still be found linking to the
current official site at)
www.flash.net/~rhbcsaps.
When the CSA met in convention at the NAPEX show in 1998, the topic of
Dick's Website came up at the General Business Meeting. The Internet
was quite new at that time and many did not understand it. The CSA
leadership at that time basically decided not to establish a formal
official website. It was then that Dick approached Gen. John L.
Kimbrough about taking over the Alliance site he had established. Gen.
Byne felt that he did not have the knowledge or the capability to do a
more extensive site other than a simple single page. He approached
Gen. Kimbrough because he had already established his own commercial
site in 1997 and knew how to construct and maintain a more detailed
site. In the summer of 1998, Gen. Kimbrough took over the Alliance
Website from Gen. Byne and registered the current csalliance.org
domain name. At that time, he established and designed an unofficial
Alliance Website. Gen. Kimbrough donated the time, effort and Webspace.
Thus the Website actually started out as an unofficial endeavor and
did not receive official standing from the Alliance until a few years
later when people began to realize that the Internet was not going
away and was actually becoming a powerful tool. Professional Website
developer and CSA member Col. Randy Neil was hired to take over as the
official Webmaster in 2004 and maintains it free of charge for the
Alliance. Gen. Patricia A. Kaufmann, who also is proficient in Website
development, works in conjunction with Col. Neil as the Alliance point
of contact and supplies many of the current events and history for the
site.
DID YOU
KNOW?
Col. Alfred H. Benners (member #46) was the only
member of the Confederate Stamp Alliance that served in the Confederate
Army. We all wish that he was still with us today to hear first hand
about the Great War.
Col./Mrs. Earle H Morris (member #249) was the
daughter of famed Confederate Navy Captain Raphael Semmes.
Col. Frank A Holden (member #297) was the
great-great-nephew of Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens.
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