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Confederate Stamp Alliance and Smithsonian National Postal Museum
Scholarship
The Smithsonian National Postal Museum (NPM) and The Confederate
Stamp Alliance (CSA) are pleased to announce a scholarship for original
research and analysis relating to the design and/or printing of a
specific Confederate stamp issue(s), the Confederate Post Office
Department, or any aspect of Confederate postal history. The
scholarships are available to PhD’s, or doctoral candidates engaged in
dissertation research, advanced graduate students, and/or other
scholars. The awardee can
use the funds to spend an uninterrupted block of time doing research in
the NPM library, other Washington DC libraries, or libraries with
Confederate States archives on their projects.
Nearly 150 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 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.
The result of the research will be publication in
The
Confederate Philatelist.
Applications
can be submitted any time during the year for this scholarship and
notification will be within a month after receiving the application. The
scholarship, for a sum of up to $2,000, will be a contribution towards
expenses including travel costs for a trip(s) to Washington DC or
library with Confederate States archives. Publication must occur within
a year after receiving the scholarship.
Applications should include:
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an outline of the subject to
be studied, time frames for completion, and how it
relates to the applicant's previous philatelic or postal
history research;>
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intentions as to publication
of the results after completion of the study;
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an accurate costing of the
trip(s), including places and organizations to be
visited and collection to research; and,
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a short curriculum vitae
(including personal details, collecting interests,
previous publications and philatelic achievements).
In evaluating submissions, the NPM and
CSA
award committee will rely on the following criteria:
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What is its significance for
our understanding of the history of postage stamps or
the postal system?
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How original is its
argument? Is the
proposal well written?
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How imaginative is its use
of primary sources (e.g., archival materials and
professional journals)?
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How do the NPM’s collection,
archives and/or library support the research?
The application should be sent or emailed to:
Winton M. Blount Chair in Research
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE
MRC 570 PO Box 37012
Washington DC 20013-7012
npmresearchchair@si.edu
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